Sri Lanka approves Pakistan tour

KARACHI: Sri Lanka’s cricket board has approved Pakistan tour nearly eight years after their team bus was attacked by gunmen. The board has cleared a three-match T20 tour including a return to Lahore.

The Sri Lanka Cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala said after a security assessment, the team had been cleared to play three Twenty20 internationals including "at least one" in Lahore.

"We have had our security experts visit and make an assessment, and things look positive with things improving all over the country and especially Lahore being cleared," Sumathipala was quoted as saying in a statement on the sidelines of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Colombo over the weekend.

"We have three T20 games coming up against Pakistan in September and we would like to play at least one of those games in Lahore," he added.

"Sri Lanka suffered through three decades of terrorism and war and at one stage no one wanted to come here -- Pakistan stood by us then, as did India," Sumathipala said.

The Sri Lankan board statement also quoted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Najam Sethi saying they had set up state-of-the-art security and surveillance to make their cities safe.

Pakistani cricket officials welcomed the decision, lauding the move on social media.

"Thank you Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala. We look forward to hosting you and the Sri Lankan team," the PCB wrote on Twitter.

Thank you Mr.Thilanga Sumathipala.

We look forward to hosting you and the Sri Lankan team. https://t.co/T4duuYvXiG

— PCB Official (@TheRealPCB) August 13, 2017

PCB chairman Najam Sethi hailed the announcement by SLC president in a series of tweets.

"PCB welcomes statement by SLC President to hold couple of T20 matches in Pak at the conclusion of their series in UAE in October 2017."

I just returned from ACC moot in Colombo where talks with SL Board President yielded good news for Pakistan. https://t.co/I251aA4Duw

— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) August 13, 2017

PCB welcomes statement by SLC President to hold couple of T20 matches in Pak at the conclusion of their series in UAE in October 2017. 👍 https://t.co/vfiLn9zM60

— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) August 13, 2017