COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s cricket board on Thursday said it will go ahead withits tour of Pakistan despite fears that players could be the targets ofterror attacks during the six-match visit.
Sri Lanka Cricket Secretary Mohan de Silva said they received the all-clearfrom the defence ministry to leave for Pakistan on Tuesday.
“We have the green light from the defence ministry,” de Silva told *AFP*.”The tour is on as we planned. I myself and our office bearers will also beaccompanying the team.”
Reports last week of a possible terror attack were referred to the defenceministry for investigation.
The Sri Lanka team was the target of an attack during a Test match inPakistan’s Lahore in March 2009, with six players injured when gunmenattacked their bus.
Six Pakistan policemen and two civilians were killed.
Since the attack, a majority of international teams have refused to tourthe South Asian country.
Sri Lanka’s first match in Lahore after that was one T20 game againstPakistan in October 2017.
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De Silva visited Pakistan last month along with a security consultant tocheck out the arrangements made by the hosts.
“They have promised security reserved for a head of state,” de Silva said.
The six-match tour, due to start on September 27, was put on hold last weekafter the Sri Lanka prime minister’s office warned the board it hadunspecified information about a possible attack against its players.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said it was not aware of any informationrelating to the safety of the Sri Lankan team, but reiterated itscommitment to providing security.
Ten senior players opted out of the tour citing security concerns.
Sri Lanka has already announced two squads for the three one-dayinternationals and the three T20 matches. -APP/AFP
