Sri Lanka name second-string squad for Pakistan T20Is after many players remain unwilling to tour Lahore

Sport360 staff 21:21 21/10/2017
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  • Several Lankan players still remain on the fence about touring Lahore.

    Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) named a new-look 16-man squad for the three-match T20I series against Pakistan which includes a visit to Lahore for the final match.

    The two sides are currently battling it out in a five-match ODI series in the UAE which will be followed by the three T20Is.

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  • The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had reached an agreement with SLC to play the third T20I at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore instead of the UAE.

    However, it was later reported that around 40 contracted Sri Lankan players had signed their name on a letter addressed to the board which indicated that they were apprehensive about travelling to Pakistan.

    A few days earlier, SLC confirmed that the match at Lahore will go ahead after consultations with the ICC and independent security experts.

    It seems though that several players still remained unconvinced about the Pakistan tour and as such the governing body has named a squad of players willing to make the trip to Lahore.

    SLC selection committee chief Graeme Labrooy indicated that it would be unfair on the players who are willing to travel to sit out for the first two matches.

    “The understanding is that we choose the same squad for the series, in fairness to the players who have put their hands up for the Lahore match,” Labrooy said.

    With quite a few first-team players still on the fence, in the end it was a second-string squad which was announced by the board on Saturday with all-rounder Thisara Perera named as the captain.

    Perera was part of the ICC World XI which toured Pakistan for a historic three-match series earlier in September.

    It was the Sri Lankan team bus which had come under attack from armed gunmen in Lahore during their tour to the country in 2009. Since then, international teams have shunned touring the country with Pakistan playing its home games in the UAE.

    Following the recent successful tour of the ICC World XI to Pakistan for the three-match T20 series, expectations of the international isolation being broken had been raised among the PCB.

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