Asia Cup 2023 Final: Sri Lankan ground staff celebrate with their prize money cheque of USD $50,000

The ground staff and the curators put in a lot of hard work during the Asia Cup 2023 matches in Sri Lanka. With a lot of rain around, the groundmen had to be ready at all times to keep the ground dry and allow the players to get on with the game once the rain came to a halt.

Jay Shah, who is the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), announced on Sunday, September 17 on the day of the Asia Cup 2023 final that the ground staff and curators in Kandy and Colombo will be rewarded with a prize money of USD $50,000 (4'15'4'517.50 INR approx). After the final, which India won by ten wickets against Sri Lanka, the ground staff were seen celebrating with the prize money cheque on the field and it made for heartwarming pictures. 

Mohammed Siraj donates Man of the Match prize money to ground staff in Colombo

The 29-year-old pacer bowled exceedingly well in the final as he bamboozled the Sri Lankan batters en route to figures of 6/21 in seven overs. His spell helped India roll over the hosts for just 50 inside 16 overs.  After India won the match by ten wickets in just 6.1 overs, Siraj was fittingly awarded Player of the Match.

The right-arm seamer said during the post-match presentation ceremony that the tournament wouldn't have been possible without the groundsmen and went on to announce that he would donate the Player of the Match prize money of USD 5,000 to the groundsmen. This generous gesture from Siraj has been receiving immense praise from the cricket fraternity.

After clinching their eighth Asia Cup title, India would slowly shift focus to their three-match series against Australia at home, which will be the final dress rehearsal before the ODI World Cup.