A day after 10 top Sri Lankan cricketers pulled out of an upcoming Pakistan tour over security concerns, motormouth Pakistani minister Chaudhary Fawad Hussain has claimed that India had threatened the players, forcing them to take the step.
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In a tweet on Tuesday, Pakistan minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Hussain said, “Informed sports commentators told me that India threatened SL players that they ll be ousted from IPL if they don’t refuse Pak visit, this is really cheap tactic, jingoism from sports to space is something we must condemn, really cheap on the part of Indian sports authorities (sic)”.
Informed sports commentators told me that India threatened SL players that they ll be ousted from IPL if they don’t refuse Pak visit, this is really cheap tactic, jingoism from sports to space is something we must condemn, really cheap on the part of Indian sports authorities
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) 10 September 2019
Top Sri Lankan players boycott Pakistan tour
10 Sri Lanka players, including the likes of Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews, have pulled out of the upcoming tour of Pakistan, citing security fears.
The decision was taken after a meeting organized by Sri Lanka Cricket with players of the national team on Monday, Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.
In 2009, a terrorist attack targeted a Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore, in which several players were left injured. Since then, Pakistan has remained isolated as a destination for international cricket.
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Later, Minister of Sports in Sri Lanka Harin Fernando said in a tweet that there has been no such influence by India on Sri Lanka players and the officials respect those players’ decision not to play in Pakistan.
No truth to reports that India influenced Sri Lankan players not to play in Pakistan.Some decided not to play purely based on 2009 incident. Respecting their decision we picked players who were willing to travel. We have a full strength team & we hope to beat Pakistan in Pakistan
— Harin Fernando (@fernandoharin) September 10, 2019
Following Sri Lankan players pulling out, an official source in the Pakistan Cricket Board had told news agency PTI that Pakistan would accept whatever team the Sri Lankan board sends.
