Sri Lanka Cricket confirms tour to Pakistan

Karachi, Jan 8: Pakistan's cricket officials Thursday heaved a sigh of relief when Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed that it will send its team to Pakistan twice this season to play One-day Internationals and Tests.

Though the matches confirmed by SLC are lesser than the number of games asked by the Pakistan Cricket Board, the officials are happy that the proposed series has been confirmed.

According to a senior Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official, Sri Lanka will land in Pakistan on Jan 18 to play three ODIs and will return home Jan 28. It will come to Pakistan again on Feb 14 to play two Tests.

Saleem Altaf, PCB's chief operating officer said that Sri Lanka will play three one-dayers in Karachi (Jan 21), Lahore (Jan 24) and Faisalabad (Jan 27). He said the dates and venues of the Test series will be finalised later.

Last month, the SLC had shown an interest in playing three Tests and five ODIs in Pakistan after the PCB invited Sri Lanka to fill in for India, which cancelled its tour because of strained relations between the two governments following the Mumbai attacks.

However, the series was in doubt after the SLC interim committee headed by Arjuna Ranatunga was disbanded by Sri Lanka's sports minister.

Altaf termed it as a good sign for Pakistan cricket which suffered a lot because of cancellation or postponement of a number of important assignments at home because of security-related issues.

--IANS