“Sri Lanka Cricket will be pleased to honour our FTP [Future Tours Programme] commitment in Pakistan which is scheduled for October- November 2011, where they will play three Tests and five One-day Internationals,” Nishantha Ranatunga, the board official was reported to have said.
However, the sports minister, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, while speaking exclusively to this paper, said, “we want the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) home series be played in our country”.
Similar opinion was also expressed by the interim committee chairman, D. S. de Silva. “We want this series be played either in Sri Lanka or at the neutral venue at Dubai or Abu Dhabi”.
In March 2009, the gunmen had attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team on its way to play in the Pakistani city of Lahore. At least six policemen escorting the team bus were killed, along with a driver.
Seven cricketers of the Sri lanka team and an assistant coach (Paul Farbace) and the Pakistani umpire were seriously injured.
No international team has toured Pakistan since then. All teams have pulled out of cricket tours in Pakistan in the recent past citing security concerns.
Interestingly, according to the other independent sources, the FTP issue, though in agenda, was not discussed at length during the ICC board meeting, which was held in Mumbai after the World Cup.
