Sri Lanka board clears first Pakistan tour since 2009 attack

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s cricket board has approved a tour to Pakistan, eight years after a deadly militant attack against its team brought top international games there to a standstill, officials said on Monday.

Sri Lanka Cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala said after a security assessment, the team had been cleared to play three Twenty20 Internationals including “at least one” in Lahore, scene of the 2009 attack which left eight people dead.

Any tour would require government approval before the team is sent abroad.Leading cricket nations have shunned playing in Pakistan since the 2009 assault, in which gunmen ambushed the Sri Lankan team bus en route to the Lahore stadium, wounding at least seven players.

“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,” Sumathipala was quoted as saying in a statement.“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 added.

Pakistani cricket officials welcomed the decision, lauding the move on social media. “Thank you Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala. We look forward to hosting you and the Sri Lankan team,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wrote on Twitter.

Since 2009, the only international team to visit Pakistan is Zimbabwe, who played five limited-overs games in Lahore in 2015. Pakistan have been playing their “home” internationals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

But there were hopeful signs when Pakistan successfully staged the final of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) — the rest of which was played in UAE — under heavy security in March. Addressing the Asian Cricket Council in Colombo at the weekend, Sumathipala called for an end to Pakistan’s isolation and urged countries to play there.

He recalled that several Test nations did not want to visit Sri Lanka at the height of the Tamil separatist conflict, when bombs were exploding in the capital in the mid-1990s. “Sri Lanka suffered through three decades of terrorism and war and at one stage no one wanted to come here — Pakistan stood by us then, as did India,” Sumathipala said.

Sri Lanka ended its long-running ethnic war in May 2009 when the top Tamil rebel leadership was wiped out in a military offensive.The Sri Lankan board statement also quoted Pakistan Cricket Board chief Najam Sethi saying they had set up state-of-the-art security and surveillance to make their cities safe.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan are due to play each other in a full series that starts at the end of September. “I am keen to take my team to Pakistan,” Sumathipala said.

“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 of 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.”

Despite Sumathipala’s eagerness, it is not clear yet how Sri Lanka’s players will react to the prospect of playing in Pakistan. Out of the squad that was attacked in Lahore, only Chamara Kapugedara stands a chance of being selected for future T20s, but other players will also have heard the details of that attack from teammates who had lived through it.

“The SLC president and I had very fruitful talks on the sidelines of the ACC meet in Colombo on August 11 and 12,” Sethi said. “I am grateful for his decision to support our efforts to bring international cricket back to Pakistan. We shall start preparations to stage one or two T20 matches in October in Lahore. This is a historic decision. Once Sri Lanka have toured Pakistan, the door will be open for safe passage of other teams to Pakistan.”

PCB has also planned a series between Pakistan and a World XI. The status of that World XI tour — currently scheduled between September 10 and 16 — is dependent on the political situation in Lahore in September.

The scenario has been complicated by the recent dismissal of Nawaz Sharif as prime minister; because of this, a very significant by-election is due to take place on September 17. The Punjab government has had multiple meetings with PCB officials and. Punjab’s law minister Rana Sanaullah has confirmed that the government is determined to host the series.