LAHORE: The Sri Lankan cricket officials are in a fix whether to tour Pakistan according to ICC’s Futures Tours Programmes (FTP) or request the series to be held at a neutral venue. Sources in the PCB confirmed on Sunday that in 2011, Pakistan are scheduled to host Sri Lanka for a full series.
“The tour is important for us but obviously keeping in mind the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team last year, we have serious doubts that they will agree to play in Pakistan,” one source said. The entire cricket world was shaken when militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009 in which six Pakistani policemen and a van driver were killed and several visiting players sustained injuries leading to foreign teams refusing to play in Pakistan. Since then, Pakistan have played all their ‘home’ series either in the UAE, New Zealand or like this summer in England against Australia.
But the catch is that before the Sri Lanka’s scheduled tour in October-November, the PCB is likely to accept a short tour of Zimbabwe and the ICC task force on Pakistan cricket is also being successful in raising a World XI team to play some games in Pakistan next year. “If the task force is able to send a World XI and if Zimbabwe also come to Pakistan, then obviously it will be a difficult decision for the SLC authorities,” the source added.
“After the World Cup, the team goes to the West Indies in April-May and then we are scheduled to tour Zimbabwe for a triangular competition or a bilateral series. It is after the Zimbabwe series that we are supposed to host the Sri Lankans,” the source said. Pakistan is also under pressure from the ICC to play their role in scheduling a home series against Afghanistan.
Afghanistan cricket chief executive Hamid Shinwari said he would soon be sending a fresh letter to the PCB asking them to schedule a series of matches against the Afghanistan team in Pakistan.
