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LAHORE: The Sri Lankan cricket team arrived at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport in the early hours of Sunday to play the final Twenty20 International match at a heavily-guarded Gaddafi Stadium. The team received a warm welcome in the city and was escorted to their hotel amid tight security. The team and their officials were taken to a five-star hotel in a bomb-proof bus with hundreds of security guards on the roads and at the resort. The routes from the Allama Iqbal Airport in Lahore were virtually sealed off with thousands of armed police deployed along the 14 km route. The streets leading to Mall Road were also deserted as the team was flanked by a large convoy of police commandos. The arrangements were similar to the security protocol followed for a presidential visit. A Sri Lankan security delegation had visited Lahore over the last two days to oversee the arrangements. A full dress rehearsal of the security arrangements from the airport to the hotel to the stadium – involving the Pakistan army, Pakistan’s paramilitary force, the Rangers, and the Punjab police – was also held on Saturday.
Sri Lankan captain Thushara Perera expressed joy upon his arrival in Pakistan and said that his team would try and give their best on the field. “Its nice to be in Pakistan again,” said Perera, who was part of the World XI last month. “We are thankful for a warm welcome and will do our best to entertain the crowd with some good cricket.” Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmad, in a video message, thanked the Sri Lankan team for returning to Pakistan and told fans to expect great cricketing spirit from both sides. “We are thankful to the Sri Lankan team for coming to Pakistan and I request the fans to support both the teams during the match,” said Sarfraz.
Asanka Gurusinha and Hashan Tillakaratne two of Sri Lanka’s survivors in the 2009 attack that killed eight have also returned to Lahore as team manager and batting coach respectively. Several Sri Lankan players, however, opted out of playing in Pakistan. Regular captain Upul Tharanga, Lasith Malinga, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal and Akila Dananjaya had all pulled out of the final showdown.
Published in Daily Times, October 30th 2017.