Sri Lankan Cricket Team To Tour Pakistan Despite Security Threat

"The Pakistan High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, on behalf of the Pakistan Government, has reaffirmed to the Sri Lankan government Pakistan's desire to provide the Sri Lankan National Team with the same level of security as that provided to a head of state," SLC Secretary Mohan De Silva stated.

Amid all the uncertainty over Sri Lanka not travelling to Pakistan for their cricket tour, the Sri Lankan Cricket Board on Wednesday confirmed that the team will go ahead with the tour after Pakistan government had "reaffirmed" its desire to provide the Sri Lanka team with the same level of security afforded to visiting heads of state. "The Pakistan High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, on behalf of the Pakistan Government, has reaffirmed to the Sri Lankan government Pakistan's desire to provide the Sri Lankan National Team with the same level of security as that provided to a head of state," SLC Secretary Mohan De Silva stated. The tour had been thrown into serious doubt last week after a warning of a terror attack on the Sri Lankan team was received by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister's Office. Following this, SLC deferred any fresh security assessment to the Sri Lankan government. The PCB, thereafter, engaged the Pakistan government, which wrote to the Sri Lankan government assuring head-of-state-level security to the visiting team. It is understood that the Pakistan high commissioner to Sri Lanka was actively in touch with the Sri Lankan defence secretary as part of confidence-building. It is also understood that there has been no change to the level of security from what was initially proposed, with the Sri Lankan government said to be satisfied with the arrangements already in place. Before news of the possible terror threat emerged, SLC had been happy with its own security assessments, and had committed to the tour, announcing ODI and T20I squads shorn of ten prominent names who had refused to travel to Pakistan.