Pakistan vs Sri Lanka: Islanders to travel to Lahore for final T20I despite top players unwilling

Colombo/Karachi: Sri Lanka will travel to Lahore for the final T20I against Pakistan on 29 October, despite top players expressing their reservations on travelling to the country, where the national team was attacked by terrorists in 2009.

A letter has been signed by 40 Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)-contracted players, including most in the current squad, to president Thilanga Sumathipala, expressing unwillingness to travel to Pakistan, which has been a hotbed of terrorist attacks.

The players have said they remained uncomfortable about travelling to Lahore for the last match of the ongoing series between the two countries in the UAE.

The SLC said that an executive committee meeting was held on Monday and it was unanimously decided to go ahead with tour.

The SLC had obtained security clearance from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the game to be held in Lahore.

“SLC have over the past two months conducted a thorough evaluation with the assistance of the government of Sri Lanka, government of Pakistan, PCB and independent security experts”, the SLC release said.

Accordingly, the 15-member squad will be announced on 20 October.

The third T20I is the final match of the current tour of Pakistan in the UAE and the SLC administration had wanted to play at Lahore’s Gaddaffi Stadium.

That Sri Lanka will tour for the match was confirmed earlier in the day by PCB chief Najam Sethi.

Sethi had said that the visit by the Sri Lankan team to Lahore for the lone match was planned and agreed upon in a meeting in which officials of the two boards and ICC were present.

“We are expecting to host the Sri Lankan team after the top security provided to the World XI side,” he said, earlier in the day.

Sethi said PCB’s endeavour was to keep on improving the security arrangements based on regular feedback from ICC and FICA-approved security experts.