Colombo, Oct 14 (AFP) Sri Lanka's cricket board isreconsidering plans to play a match against Pakistan in Lahorelater this month after its players expressed securityconcerns, officials said today.
Sri Lanka are currently scheduled to play their thirdTwenty20 match in the series in Lahore on October 29, justover eight years after its team was ambushed by gunmen in thesame city.
If it goes ahead, the match would be the first played inPakistan by Sri Lanka -- or any other top international team-- since militants ambushed its team bus en route to theLahore stadium in 2009, wounding at least seven players.
But the board cast doubt on its team's return to thecountry Saturday, saying it would study security assessmentsprovided by both Sri Lanka and Pakistan governments as well asindependent reports and possibly make a decision Monday, anofficial said.
"A few players have expressed reservations, but about 20players (out of 40 contracted by the board) have confirmedtheir willingness to play in Lahore," the board official toldAFP.
"A final decision is likely to be taken on Monday."Under the current schedule, Lahore would host theTwenty20 series finale following earlier matches between thesides played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where Pakistanhave played their "home" internationals since the ambush.
Since 2009 the only international team to visit Pakistanis Zimbabwe, who played five limited-overs games in Lahore in2015.
But after Pakistan successfully staged the final of itsdomestic Pakistan Super League tournament in Lahore underheavy security this March, the country hoped internationalgames could once again be played there.
A successful series against a World XI team featuring topforeign players in Lahore last month further boosted calls forcricket to return to the militancy-racked nation.
Sri Lanka Cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala in Augustappealed for an end to Pakistan's isolation -- a statementwelcomed by Pakistani cricket officials -- and urged countriesto play there.
He recalled that several Test nations did not want tovisit Sri Lanka at the height of the Tamil separatistconflict, when bombs were exploding in the capital in themid-1990s, but Pakistan and India had toured Sri Lanka at thetime. (AFP) PDSPDS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.