Increased security of Sri Lankan team. (Photo- PTI)
Amidst the recent terrorist incidents in Pakistan, security arrangements have been further strengthened during the tour of Sri Lankan cricket team. In view of the increasing instability in the country, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has promised to provide all possible security to the visiting team. PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the Home Minister of Pakistan, personally met the Sri Lankan officials and assured them that his team would be completely safe.
Increased security of Sri Lankan team
Actually, Sri Lankan cricket team is currently on tour of Pakistan. The ODI series between the two teams has also started. The first match of the series was played on 11 November and on Tuesday itself, 12 people were killed and many were injured in a suicide blast outside a judicial complex in Islamabad. Similarly, the attack on Cadet College in North Wana area was foiled by the security forces, due to which the lives of about 300 students were saved.
This is not the first time that terrorist incidents have affected cricket in Pakistan. Three years ago, the New Zealand team had also canceled the Pakistan tour after receiving intelligence reports of security threats and returned without playing a single match. Due to which this time Mohsin Naqvi himself reached the stadium and met the Sri Lankan players and officials and personally reviewed the security arrangements.
Sri Lankan team was attacked in 2009
Pakistan’s cricket history has been badly affected by terrorism. In March 2009, TTP attackers opened fire on the Sri Lankan team bus near Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, after which no foreign team agreed to come to Pakistan for almost a decade. Now additional contingents of Pakistani Army and Rangers have been deployed for the security of the Sri Lankan team, so that the players and officials can play the match without any worries. Let us tell you, after playing three ODI series in Rawalpindi, the Sri Lankan team will take part in the T20 tri-series from 17 to 29 November, in which Zimbabwe will be the third team.