Sri Lanka not to play T20 series in Pakistan
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
What’s the story?
In a major blow to Pakistan's ambitions of getting International cricket back in the country, the Sri Lanka Cricket board has turned down the offer of participating in a T20-International series in October.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan confirmed the development and said that the bomb blast in Lahore earlier this week played a huge role in Sri Lanka's decision to skip the tour.
Khan's disappointment was quite palpable when he addressed the media informing them of the decision.
"I am a bit surprised at Sri Lankan's refusal because terror attacks are happening everywhere in the world and sports events are still going on. It is unfair to just single out Pakistan for security reasons," Khan said.
The Details
Adding to his disappointment, Khan also said that this decision does not make much sense since the PCB had already successfully conducted the final of the Pakistan Super League in Lahore.
Also, according to Khan, the ICC had sent their representatives to review the security conditions and barring a few loopholes which were rectified, they were quite happy with what the PCB had to offer with respect to the security arrangements.
The PCB chairman also informed about the proposed world tour and said that although the ICC had finalised the budget details and other aspects of the World eleven tour, the blast in Lahore had made sure that there was no finalised date for the event.
In case you didn’t know...
Pakistan has been isolated from International cricket ever since the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked by terrorists back in 2009.
Recently, Kumar Sangakkara made a shocking claim that the team was sent to Pakistan despite the fact that several players were not entirely comfortable with the security arrangements in the country.
What's next?
Shaharyar Khan also informed that Sri Lanka will now play a 2-Test match series against Pakistan in in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
This will be followed by a 3-T20 match series in October-November in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
Author's Take
There is little doubt that Pakistan cricket has suffered a lot, both financially and logistically owing to the lack of cricket in the country.
However, the ICC has to take cognisance of the security arrangements in the country before they take the leap of faith and send across any team.
One can also understand the decision taken by Cricket Sri Lanka as they would not want to take any undue risk as it involves the security of the players, which should be paramount in any scenario.