Sri Lanka team manager Asanka Gurusinha has made it clear that the Islanders will visit Pakistan for the T20I match only after getting the clearance from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and after being convinced of the security arrangements.
Neither Sri Lanka nor any other international team except Afghanistan had visited Pakistan since 2009 when terrorists attacked Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore. However, with the ICC and the Pakistan Cricket Board now desperate to resume international cricket in Pakistan, the scenario can change in the coming days.
Currently, a World XI side is playing in Pakistan, and Gurusinha said the officials are keen to watch how the games go. Sri Lanka will play a full-fledged series against Pakistan which will start later this month in the UAE, but the last T20I is scheduled to be played in Lahore.
“We will wait and see whether the clearance comes through from the ICC. Currently, the World XI is playing a series, and we would like to see how those games go. We will send our security experts too to check the situation in Lahore,” Gurusinha was quoted as saying by Sri Lankan news outlet The Island.
Citing the 1996 incident when Pakistan sent six of their top players to Sri Lanka to partner six players from India in a friendly match against Sri Lanka after Australia and West Indies pulled out of their 1996 World Cup group games days after the Central Bank bombing, Gurusinha said the Islanders are keen to return the favour.
But at the same time, the former cricketer insisted that the board would not push any player to go to Pakistan.
“To me personally, it will be a great opportunity to say thank you for Pakistan for what they did to us in 1996 provided the security clearance comes through,” Gurusinha noted.
“It will be great if we can go, but at the same time, I know that SLC will not push anybody to go. We will discuss the matter over the next couple of days,” Gurusinha added.
Last month, SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala had also insisted that Sri Lanka are keen to help Pakistan end their long wait for international cricket in the country.
“Cricket is a game of change, chance and chase,” Sumathipala had said. “The game today, and its following is very different to what it was ten years ago, and as administrators, we are faced with a different set of challenges to overcome. World cricket is in the hands of the unity of Asia. We need to respectfully understand each other’s problems and stand by each other. This is the spirit of the Asian Cricket Council.”