After Sri Lanka’s support staff agreed to tour Lahore for the last T20 International against Pakistan later this month, some players seem to have softened their stance, Cricbuzz learns.
The support staff that includes four former international cricketers, Hashan Thilakaratne (batting coach), Rumesh Ratnayake (bowling coach), Asanka Gurusinha (manager) and Nic Pothas (head coach), were willing to tour Lahore after Pakistan’s head coach Mickey Arthur spoke to them, a source from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) told Cricbuzz.
The support staff has been asked to individually write to Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Ashley de Silva stating their willingness to tour. The players had earlier written a letter to SLC President Thialnga Sumathipala expressing their reluctance to play the game in Lahore and requesting for a venue change. However, after a host of new developments some players have softened their stance.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has expressed satisfaction with security arrangements and will send a match referee and an anti-corruption official. The Pakistan Cricket Board has assured the team security similar to that of Heads of State. SLC said that they understood the players’ concern but will conduct their own security assessment.
Sumathipala in an interview with Cricbuzz on Saturday had said that the board will pick only the players who are willing to travel to Lahore for the three-match T20 series. Sri Lanka’s ODI squad comprises two players – Suranga Lakmal and Chamara Kapugedera – who were on the team bus when it came under a terrorist attack in March 2009.
“The players have a few concerns and we will address them,” an SLC official said. Since the Sri Lankan team attacked eight years ago, international cricket was pulled out of Pakistan. The international matches of Pakistan are currently being played in UAE with the gulf has becoming their adopted home the last eight years.
The PCB has said that the board has incurred heavy losses due to home games being played in UAE. Earlier this month, former captain Waqar Younis and Inzamam-ul-Haq urged the Sri Lankan team to tour Pakistan in a bid to bring international cricket back to the country.
None of the Pakistani players who featured in the recent Test series against Sri Lanka have played a Test in Pakistan.
A World XI captained by Faf du Plessis played a three-match T20 series in Lahore last month. Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera was part of the side.
