Debasis Sen, Pallekele: Sri Lanka will be touring Pakistan next month to play a couple of T20I’s in Lahore. Both the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has agreed upon to play at least one or two T20I’s in Lahore in the Asian Cricket Council meeting held in Colombo. The meeting was chaired by PCB Chairman Najam Sethi and was attended by representatives of 19 countries. BCCI CEO Rahul Johuri and acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary attended the meeting.
According to Mr Thilan Sumathipala, President of the SLC, “I am keen to take my team to Pakistan. We have had our security experts visit and make an assessment, and things look positive with things improving all over the country and especially Lahore being cleared. We have three T20 games coming up against Pakistan in September and we would like to play at least one of those games in Lahore”
He also added, “I call upon each one of you as members to play your role and give Pakistan the security of your support. There is always risk – there were two attacks in London during the Champions trophy, but cricket continued under the security assurances if the ICC, so likewise we too must be as accommodating and understanding as possible with our members and extend our fullest support to them as the cricketing family of Asia.”
Responding to Sumathipala’s gesture, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman chairman Najam Sethi expounded on the state-of-the-art security and surveillance systems in place in Pakistan and explained that Pakistan was a member of the “Safe-City” initiative at an estimated cost of (P)Rs. 10 Billion.
Sri Lanka will play at least one of the three-T20 games in Lahore in September this year if all logistical and operational plans fall in place.
Apart from hosting Zimbabwe in 2015, no other Test side has toured Pakistan since the attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009. A few players and officials were injured in the attack and the series was called off with immediate effect. Sethi, who on Wednesday, was elected as PCB’s chairman for a three-year period, feels dealing with the security issue will be a challenge, but will be worth all the effort.
As per the current schedule, Pakistan is set to play two Tests, three One-Day Internationals and two T20I’s against Sri Lanka in September-October. While both the test matches and the ODI’s will be played in the UAE, at least one T20I will be played at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore.