Sri Lanka may travel to Pakistan for the Test series
View(s):Pakistan, starved for ten years of international cricket at home, is desperate for it to end. And Sri Lanka may well be the first team to travel there later this year for Test matches.
The country was shunned by cricket-playing nations after the Sri Lankan team was attacked by gunmen on their way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in 2009. It put a halt to international cricket there. But now, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has offered Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Karachi and Lahore as venues for a two-match Test series sheduled for later this year as part of the ICC Test Championship.
“We are seriously looking at it, especially at a time when some countries have reservations about touring Sri Lanka following the recent terrorist attack,” said Mohan de Silva, Secretary SLC. “But it will be after a thorough evaluation of the the security situation there”.
On the invitation of the PCB, therefore, Sri Lanka will send security officials to assess the security situation but no date has yet been fixed.
Over the last few years, PCB has stepped up its efforts to bring international cricket back to the country. They hosted the Pakistan Super League with the participation of foreign players, an ICC World XI (2017) and West Indies (2018), for three-match T20I series, and Sri Lanka (2017) for a one-off T20I.
Bangladesh, who were supposed to tour
Sri Lanka in late July, earlier last month ruled out the possibility of visiting following the attacks.Meanwhile Sri Lanka Cricket has appointed former Air Force Commander, Air Marshal Roshan Goonatileke as security consultant to the board. He has been given a two-year contract.