After several postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Battle of the Maroons between Old Anandians and Old Nalandians living in the UAE will be played on Friday 26th November 2021 at the Dahid Cricket Village Grounds in Sharjah UAE. The first ever Battle of the Maroons encounter in the UAE was initiated by former Ananda Cricket Captain Saliya Senanayake along with former Nalanda Cricketer Sumedha Dharmasena way back in 2004.
The Chief Guest of this annual event will be Malraj de Silva, Ambassador of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the United Arab Emirates.
The 12th edition of the Battle of the Maroons will be played in memory of the Legendary Principal P de S Kularatne, who was the Principal of Ananda College for 25 years. A well-known educationist, he also established Nalanda College Colombo, Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Moratuwa Vidyalaya and Dharmapala Vidyalaya.
In previous game which was played in 2018, for the first time, Battle of Maroons Cricket Matches in the UAE were played with hard leather ball according to International T20 format, which was a testament to the ever-growing enthusiasm and development of cricket in the UAE.
The second eleven game that was introduced at the 7th Battle of the Maroons will be played this year too, in memory of the Veteran Coach Lionel Mendis. The much loved teacher and cricket coach, Lionel Mendis has been instrumental in contributing many talented cricketers who have represented Sri Lanka at the highest level.
With the success of introducing Old Anandians and Old Nalandians Rugby Teams in the UAE, this year too, the Tag Ruuby Big Match will be played, for the P de S Kularatne Challenge Shield.
At the first Battle of the Maroons in the UAE that was played in 2004, Old Anandians Cricket Team led by former Ananda and Tamil Union Cricketer Sanjeewa Karunasekara beat Old Nalandians Cricket Team led by former Nalanda Cricketer Sumedha Dharmasena. Since then, there were 11 Battle of the Maroons big matches played so far in the UAE, where Nalanda has won the coveted trophy seven times and Ananda four times. The second eleven game introduced at the seventh edition of the Battle of the Maroons, has so far been played five times, where Ananda had won twice and Nalanda thrice, whereas the Tag Rugby game has been won by Nalanda once and Ananda thrice.
All-rounder Tharindu Pathmaperuma, who is a well-known cricketer in UAE, will lead Old Anandians while former Nalanda First XI Cricket Captain, Yasas S Hewavitharane will lead Old Nalandians. The second eleven team of Old Anandians will be led by experienced Nipuna Nalith Amarasinghe and Thisara Gunasekara will lead the Old Nalandians. The Old Anandians Tag Rugby Team will be led by Lasantha Pussawela, while Chanaka Senathilake will lead the Old Nalandians Tag Rugby Team.
For the first time, Man of the Match trophy for first XI Cricket encounter in Battle of the Maroons is named in honour of former Nalandian, Sri Lanka's first-ever Test cricket captain Bandula Warnapura who passed away recently.
One of the key sporting spectacles in the UAE’s Event Calendar, Battle of the Maroons is organized to foster friendship and brotherhood between the two foremost Buddhist schools, and is expected to draw a large gathering of Old Anandians and Old Nalandians, their families and friends for a day long activity at the Dahid Cricket Village Grounds in Sharjah UAE.
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