Pak minister accuses India of influencing Sri Lankan players into opting out of series
Pakistan Science and Technology Minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhary, who has courted much controversy with disparaging tweets about India’s Chandrayaan mission, took to Twitter for some India-bashing again. This time, he accused India of influencing Sri Lankan players to opt out of the Pakistan tour. In his tweet, Fawad Chaudhary 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." https://twitter.com/fawadchaudhry/status/1171321114628411392?s=20 Earlier, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board convened a meeting with players and updated them about security arrangements. They also gave players the freedom to decide if they are willing to go Pakistan or not. The 10 players who refused to go to Pakistan for the upcoming series are Lasith Malinga, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Janith Perera, Dhananjaya De Silva, Thisara Perera, Akila Dhananjaya, Angelo Mathews, Suranga Lakmal, Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne. Also Read: Memory of 2009 terror attack still fresh, 10 Sri Lankan players opt out of Pak tour Sri Lanka is scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20 matches in Pakistan, but the team does not have great memories of its trips to the country. In 2009, while on Pakistan tour, the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Eight persons were killed and seven, including players and staff, were grievously injured in the attack. PTC News
