Sri Lanka coach feels if Pak series goes well, it can be 'huge thing' for future

Sri Lanka coach Rumesh Ratnayake said that if their ODI and T20I series in Pakistan goes well, it will 'huge thing' for the future.

Sri Lanka is scheduled to tour Pakistan again in December for a two-match Test match series.

"This will be a precursor for that [Test] tour [in December]. I'm sure this will certainly encourage the others to take decisions, but we can't enforce it on them. They have taken a decision and we have to respect that, but certainly if things go well, this will be a huge thing for the future, not only for them but for all other countries to be here," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Ratnayake as saying.

Sri Lanka have visited Pakistan to play three ODIs and as many T20Is. However, before the announcement of the final squad for the tour, ten Lankan players had opted themselves out from the series.

The players were: Lasith Malinga, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Janith Perera, Dhananjaya De Silva, Thisara Perera, Akila Dhananjaya, Angelo Mathews, Suranga Lakmal, Dinesh Chandimal, and Dimuth Karunaratne.

The first ODI match between both the teams was abandoned on September 27 due to rain and the second match, which was to be played on September 29, was rescheduled to September 30.

Ratnayake said although their preparation has not been all that good, they are not going to make excuses.

"Even before we came here, the preparations were hampered by rain. It seems as if it's raining in the whole world. We had only had a day's training outside, and today was the second day. So as you can imagine, the prep hasn't been all that good, but that's not going to be an excuse because they are all professional players," he said.