Yet, I can proudly say we fought hard as would be expected of cricketers much younger. My good friend Syed Kirmani remains as agile and alert. He still flicks off the bails with as much speed and as cleanly as ever. Madan Lal's famous jump at the delivery crease was, however, missing. He now bowls in one smooth action. But he's also much slower now.

I was proud of the way we showed our batting might, after batting first. Brendon Kuruppu probably had Jayasuriya in mind when he went after the Indian bowlers from the word go.

While we kept losing wickets at regular intervals, never did the Sri Lankans indicate they were any less than the side led by Arjuna Ranatunga now.

Sixes and fours flowed all around the field -- and the boundary was brought inside -- because the outfield was too wet for play. The rain also left wet patches all over, making it excruciatingly slow. It was not as much the cricket the spectators came to witness as the chance to see former stars like Sandeep Patil, Kirmani, Roger Binny, who looks just a wee bit older but is as fit as ever. The cheering that accompanied Ankola to the delivery crease was bigger than you would have probably encountered in the good old days.

Ankola clearly stole the show with his film star looks to boot. He bowled from his full run-up; not for him the shortened ambling run-up of Madan and Binny. He did trouble the out-of-practice Sri Lankans.

Both teams, however, showed playing in a seniors championship can still be quite competitive.