10 Sri Lankan players boycott upcoming Pakistan tour

Pakistan’s hopes of hosting a limited-overs series have been further crushed after ten Sri Lankan players opted out of the upcoming tour due to security reasons.

In a meeting held by the Sri Lankan Cricket Board, the players were brought up to speed with the security measures being put in place for them on tour. As many as ten senior cricketers, including T20I captain Lasith Malinga, along with Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Suranga Lakmal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Thisara Perera, Akila Dhananjaya, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera and Niroshan Dickwella have all decided not to travel with the squad. Kusal Mendis, on the other hand, remains unavailable owing to his recent leg injury in the series against New Zealand.

“Former Sri Lanka Air Force Commander Marshal Air Roshan Goonetileke, who is the Chief Security Advisor of the SLC, briefed the players about the security situation in Pakistan and the security arrangements PCB plans on implementing during Sri Lanka team’s tour of that country, whilst Chairman of the National Selection Panel Mr. Asantha De Mel explained about the selection policy for future tours,” SLC said in their statement.

Pakistan were scheduled to host Sri Lanka for a limited-overs series featuring three ODIs in Karachi from September 27 to October 3, followed by three T20Is in Lahore from October 5 to 9. They will then kick off their quest for the World Test Championship in December against the same opposition.

The Sri Lankan players were reportedly given a choice regarding their participation on the tour, following which they would announce the ODI and T20I squads.

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