A day after Pakistan's Science & Technology Minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhry accused India of forcing Sri Lankan cricketers to boycott their upcoming tour of Pakistan, Sri Lanka's Sports Minister Harin Fernando on Wednesday dismissed the claims saying there's no truth in it. (More Cricket News)
On Monday, ten Sri Lankan players including T20 skipper Lasith Malinga and former captains Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera pulled out of the tour of Pakistan citing security concerns. The move came as a huge shock to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which is for the first time since 2009, preparing to host a top tier national team.
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The following day, Chaudhry, who is known for making sensational claims blamed India for the pull out in a tweet.
"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," Chaudhry tweeted.
Rejecting the claim, Fernando said that the players have opted out of the tour "purely" based on the 2009 Lahore incident when their team bus was attacked by terrorist leaving eight people dead and several others injured. Also, the families of the three players are said to be uncomfortable with the prospect of them playing in Pakistan.
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"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," he tweeted on Tuesday night.
Other players who have decided to opt against the tour are: Dinesh Chandimal, Suranga Lakmal, Dimuth Karunaratne and Perera, Akila Dhananjaya, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera and Niroshan Dickwella.
Sri Lanka are scheduled to play three One-Day Internationals in Karachi on September 27, 29 and October 3, and as many Twenty 20 Internationals in Lahore on October 5, 7 and 9 during the tour, before returning in December for the Test series that will be a part of the ICC World Test Championship.
Recently, Chaudhry, who is known for his vitriolic anti-India tweets, started the hashtag "India Failed" after ISRO lost contact with its Vikram lander.
