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Eight Sri Lankan players, currently touring Pakistan with the national team for a three-match ODI series, are set to return home on Thursday after expressing concern over their safety following a deadly bomb blast in Islamabad that left 12 people dead and several injured, a SLC source said on Wednesday. The development means the second ODI scheduled in Rawalpindi on Thursday will not happen. Pakistan had won the first ODI by six runs at the same venue on Tuesday. The Sri Lankan team is also scheduled to play a triangular series, involving the hosts and Zimbabwe, after the three ODIs. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) sources said replacements will be sent for those returning home. Sources in SLC added that because of the proximity of Rawalpindi, where the ODIs are being played, to Islamabad was the reason the players expressed the desire to return home. In 2009, the Sri Lankan cricket team bus was attacked by gunmen when it was on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for the second ...
The Pakistan Cricket Board has rescheduled the opening of a T20I tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe from November 17 to November 18 besides making Rawalpindi the sole venue for the tournament owing to the visiting teams' security concerns in the wake of a suicide attack in Islamabad. The second game of the seven-match rubber has also been postponed by a day to November 20. Earlier, Lahore was scheduled to host five games of the event, including the final on November 29 but the three boards have agreed to hold the proceedings exclusively in Rawalpindi now. "The decision to revise the schedule was made in consultation with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), following mutual discussions to accommodate operational and match requirements," the PCB said in a statement after night of hectic negotiations to ensure that the Lankan players do not leave an ongoing ODI series midway. The Zimbabwe cricket team reached Islamabad early Thursday morning amid tight security f