Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka thanked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and their security forces for ensuring the team’s safety during their tour, which was under heightened alert after a recent bomb blast.
This came after the T20I Tri-Series final loss at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday, a match that saw Sri Lanka collapse from a strong position. After being 81-1, they lost their last eight wickets for just 16 runs to be bowled out for 114. Pakistan chased down the target of 115 with six wickets and eight balls to spare.
After the match, Shanaka acknowledged the security situation. “We enjoyed this tournament as a group. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to go out much,” he said after the match, referring to restrictions following a bomb blast.
“Credit to the security forces; they supported us in every situation. It’s not easy to handle all this, to organise everything. I must thank PCB for ensuring our safety,” he added.
Earlier, at least eight Sri Lankan cricketers were said to have expressed fears for their safety and were on the verge of abandoning the Pakistan tri-series tournament and return home after a suicide bombing rocked Pakistan’s capital Islamabad earlier this month. The attack in the Pakistan capital killed 12 and wounded 27 outside a district court building. However, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board said in a statement that it had “instructed all players, support staff, and team management to continue with the tour as scheduled.” It also issued a veiled threat of a “formal review” in case any players or staff member ignored its directive and abandoned the tour.
After the loss to Pakistan, the captain conceded that his team’s batting against spin was a problem. “We must realise when to take chances against spin – especially left-handers getting out to off-spinners and right-handers to left-arm spin. Those were avoidable,” he said.
Despite the loss, Shanaka looked ahead to the T20 World Cup and a future series against Pakistan. “We take this as learning. Hopefully, we’ll correct these issues,” he said. “I’m very confident about that… Hopefully, in the future, I’ll get the chance to come to Pakistan again and play good cricket.”
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