No truth to reports that India influenced SL players not to play in Pakistan: SL Sport Minister

Sri Lanka’s sports minister Harin Fernando had to take to twitter to refute the baseless allegations made by Pakistan minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhary that India had threatened SL players against participating in the upcoming series in Pakistan.

Chaudhary had claimed that India could have used threats that the Sri Lankan players would lose their IPL contracts if they travelled to Pakistan, learning reliably from “Informed sports commentators”.

ALSO READ: Pakistan minister alleges India threatened Sri Lanka players to pull out of tour

A day after the controversial tweet from Chaudhary, Fernando wrote, ” No truth to reports that India influenced Sri Lankan players not to play in Pakistan.Some decided not to play purely based on 2009 incident. Respecting their decision we picked players who were willing to travel. We have a full strength team & we hope to beat Pakistan in Pakistan”.

No truth to reports that India influenced Sri Lankan players not to play in Pakistan.Some decided not to play purely based on 2009 incident. Respecting their decision we picked players who were willing to travel. We have a full strength team & we hope to beat Pakistan in Pakistan Harin Fernando (@fernandoharin) September 10, 2019

PAKISTAN VS SRI LANKA 2019 | LATEST NEWS

Chaudhary’s tweet came a day after 10 Sri Lanka players including prominent names like Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews pulled out of the Pakistan tour.

ALSO READ: Malinga, Mathews among 10 Sri Lanka cricketers to opt out of Pakistan tour

Of those who have decided to skip the tour which features three T20Is and three ODIs, other prominent names, other than Malinga and Mathews are Dinesh Chandimal and skipper Dimuth Karunaratne. Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya De Silva, Thisara Perera, Akila Dhananjaya and Suranga Lakmal have also decided to give the series a miss.

The ODIs will be played in Karachi followed by the T20Is in Lahore, before Sri Lanka return in December for a Test series that will be a part of the World Test Championship.

ALSO READ: Sri Lanka confirm tour of Pakistan

The decision was made after the entire squad was briefed about the security preparations in Pakistan by Former Sri Lanka Air Force Commander, Marshal Air Roshan Goonetileke, who is the Chief Security Advisor of the SLC, while Chairman of the National Selection Panel Ashantha De Mel explained about the selection policy for future tours.

Last month, Fernando had confirmed Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan after a near two-year-long absence. International teams have stayed away from Pakistan over security concerns. In October 2017, Sri Lanka played a T20 match in Lahore for the first time since a terror attack near the same venue in March 2009. That attack left eight people dead and seven Sri Lanka players and staff injured.