Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 2019: Did India Threaten Sri Lankan Cricket Team?

It was a major set back for the Pakistan Cricket board when Sri Lankan players refused to play against Pakistan in the upcoming series. Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 2019 series fell apart as close to 10 Sri Lankan players had security concerns. Now a Pakistan minister has made an obscene claim regarding that.

Science and Technology Minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhry claimed that India has threatened the Sri Lankan players against playing in the upcoming Pakistan series. India used the threats that Sri Lankan players would lose their  IPL contracts if they play in series against Pakistan, said Fawad Hussain Chaudhry. In his recent tweet he said:

“Informed sports commentators told me that India threatened SL players that they will be ousted from IPL if they don’t refuse Pak visit, this is really cheap tactic, jingoism from sports to space is something we must condemn, really cheap on the part of Indian sports authorities”

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 2019 was scheduled to start from September 27th with an ODI. Sri Lanka is scheduled to play against Pakistan for 2 ODIs and 3 T20I. The ODIs are scheduled on September 27, 29 and October 3, while the T20Is are scheduled on October 5,7, and 9.

related: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 2019: Sri Lanka Refuses to tour Pakistan

However, close to 10 Sri Lankan players who were selected as part of the preliminary team for the series against Pakistan were involved in a meeting with Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) on Monday to discuss the security issues in upcoming series against Pakistan. SLC decided to withdraw from the tour of Pakistan after the meeting.

Sri Lankan players such as T20I skipper Lasith Malinga, former captain Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Suranga Lakmal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Thisara Perara, Akila Dhananjaya, Dananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perara and Niroshana Dickwella were against traveling to Pakistan for the matches due to security issues.

Sri Lanka recently played New Zeland in the 3T20I series. Although Sri Lanka managed to win the last T20I, the performance by the Sri Lankan team was disappointing as New Zeland won the series (2-1).