Sri Lanka to plan more matches in Pakistan after security success of Lahore T20

Sunday's match at the Gaddafi Stadium was the first visit to Pakistan fro Sri Lanka since the 2009 bus attack.

A cricket fan holds a placard welcoming the Sri Lankan team during the third Twenty20 international match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
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Sri Lanka are planning to send more teams to Pakistan after playing a Twenty20 match in Lahore for the first time since a gun attack eight years ago, a top official said on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Ashley de Silva said the national team were impressed with the extraordinary level of security for the match at the Gaddafi stadium on Sunday.

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"They delivered the security they promised and we were very satisfied with all the arrangements," de Silva told reporters in Colombo a day after the team returned home.

He said the board would send junior sides to Pakistan soon and the senior side would follow as soon as possible.

"Our FTP (Future Tours Program) does not include Pakistan, but we will have one as soon as possible," he said. "We are sending our A team and an Under-19 team to play against Pakistan shortly."

Pakistani and Sri Lankan cricketers and officials pose for a photograph before the start of the third and final Twenty20 international match at the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore on October 29, 2017.
The Twenty20 against Sri Lanka may take less than four hours to play but its significance could last far longer -- convincing major nations that it is safe to tour Pakistan again. Sri Lanka are the first top eight team to visit Pakistan, eight years after they were the last -- caught up in a deadly attack by militant gunmen outside Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. / AFP PHOTO / AAMIR QURESHI
The Pakistan and Sri Lanka teams pose for photos together inside the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore ahead of the T20. Aamir Qureshi / AFP

Sunday's T20 was Sri Lanka's first in Pakistan since their team bus was attacked near the same venue in March 2009.

That attack, which left eight people dead and seven Sri Lanka players and their staff injured, forced Pakistan to play all their home matches at neutral venues, mainly in the UAE.

Sri Lanka's T20 captain Thisara Perera said several team members had raised concerns about safety, but he was able to assure them based on his experience in playing in a three-match World XI series in Lahore last month.

Pakistani troops stand guard at the main entrance of Gaddafi Stadium ahead of scheduled Twenty20 international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017.  Pakistan will showcase its security capabilities to the cricketing world for the third time in eight months when Sri Lanka plays a Twenty20 international at the heavily guarded Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistani troops stand guard at the main entrance of Gaddafi Stadium ahead of the T20 between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. KM Chaudary / AP Photo

"In my nine years of cricket I have never seen that level of security," Perera said of Sunday's match which Sri Lanka lost by 36 runs. "I think we can play again in Pakistan."

Sri Lanka's Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara and board President Thilanga Sumathipala also travelled to Lahore for the final of the three-match T20 series to underline Colombo's confidence in the security arrangements.

The first two matches, which Pakistan won by seven and two wickets respectively, were played in Abu Dhabi before Sri Lanka flew to Lahore in a 24-hour fly-in, fly-out arrangement.