Sri Lanka will play a T20I match in Pakistan: Sumathipala

The Sri Lankan cricket team will travel to Pakistan for the third T20I match of the bilateral series , at the October, SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala told the BBC Sinhala. It was earlier reported that the match might well be shifted to their adopted home UAE. SLC had earlier agreed to tour Pakistan if the security is satisfactory. No team apart from Zimbabwe and World XI has traveled to the cricket loving nation since the 2009 attack.

The Sri Lankan team bus carrying the players were attacked outside the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. The PCB is currently trying their best to get foreign teams to play in Pakistan in order to bring back normality in the country. A 3match T20I series was recently organised between Pakistan and World XI.

“The tour may change only if there is a dramatic change in the security situation in the Pakistan” Sumathipala further stated. The match is scheduled on 29th October, at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Some of the players unsure

“As much as we understand the need to help Pakistan at this moment, we need to grasp the mentality of the players here,” said a national cricketer, on condition of anonymity.  “It was our team which was directly targeted and even though most of us were not with the team at that time, the scares still haunt us. At this moment, the players are not in favour of touring Pakistan but let’s wait and see.” he added.

Suranga Lakmal, who is a 2009 terrorist attack  survivor, recently said that he still has nightmares of the tragic incident which nearly cost his life.  “That was my first tour with the Sri Lankan team,” Lakmal was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.  “I don’t like to talk about that day because I still have nightmares of that incident. I thought I was going to die that day.”