CARDIFF, United Kingdom — Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan
said Wednesday he would not play cricket in Pakistan again after an
invitation for his side to return to the troubled nation, two years
after they were attacked there, was rejected.
Dilshan was on the
Sri Lanka team bus shot at by militants in Lahore in March 2009 during
an attack which killed eight people and injured seven members of the
tour party.
Asked if he would ever go back to Pakistan with Sri
Lanka, Dilshan -- leading the team in the first Test against England
that starts here on Thursday -- told reporters: "I don't think so. It
was a bad experience for me as a cricketer in Pakistan.
"As a player, I don't want to go through the same experience in the future.
"My personal view, I don't want to go back to play cricket there."
The
Pakistan Cricket Board announced at the weekend they had invited Sri
Lanka to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and one Twenty20
game in a series proposed for October.
However, the invitation
was turned down by Sri Lanka Cricket chairman D.S. de Silva, who said
Tuesday: "The circumstances, with regards to security, don't allow us
to play matches there. Even the ICC (International Cricket Council) has
not given us security clearance."
Since the attack, no major
nation has toured Pakistan, forcing the country to play 'home' series
in the United Arab Emirates, England and New Zealand.
On Monday,
Afghanistan became the first foreign squad to arrive in Pakistan
following the attack on the Sri Lankan players. The Afghans will take
on a second-string Pakistani national team in a three-match series. AFP
