10 Sri Lanka players, which includes Lasith Malinga, Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews have pulled out of the upcoming tour of Pakistan, citing security concerns.
According to report, the decision was taken in a meeting organized by Sri Lanka Cricket with players of the national team on Monday.
Sri Lanka cricket team was scheduled to visit Pakistan for a bilateral series between September 27 and October 9. The series included 3 one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals. But, since the 2009 terrorist attack in which gunmen targeted a Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore, leaving several cricketers injured, 10 Sri Lanka cricketers opted out of the tour.
Also, families of several Sri Lankan players were allegedly uncomfortable with the prospect of the cricketers playing in Pakistan.
However, a PCB official in a statement said, “Technically it is an internal matter of the Sri Lankan board so we can’t comment on it. But the bottom line is that the tour is on from 25th September and we are making all preparations to host them in Karachi and Lahore.”
