Patil, Rajapaksa set to watch World Cup cricket final

New Delhi (PTI) - After the high octane Indo-Pak
match in Mohali, the World Cup cricket final in Mumbai on
April 2 is also going to be a high-profile event with Indian
President Pratibha Patil and her Sri Lankan counterpart
Mahinda Rajapaksa set to watch the encounter.
Patil will be flying to Mumbai for the keenly awaited
match after India entered the final by thrashing Pakistan at
Mohali Wednesday, Rashtrapati Bhawan sources said.
The President has been following the game and had
watched the India-Pakistan semi-final match.
The Mohali encounter provided the "setting" for a
"re-engagement" between India and Pakistan with Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza
Gilani mixing cricket with diplomacy.
Reports from Sri Lanka capital Colombo said that
Rajapaksa will fly to Mumbai for the India-Sri Lanka final.
"The President wants us (Sri Lanka) to win the World
Cup as a tribute to Muttiah Muralitharan who retires from
international cricket after this World Cup," Rajapaksa's
spokesman Bandula Jayasekera told reporters.
The Sri Lankan President and his three sons were keen
spectators on Tuesday night when Sri Lanka beat New Zealand to
reach the final to meet India.
Rajapaksa had visited the Caribbean when Sri Lanka
reached the final of the 2007 World Cup with Australia.