Sri Lanka to play Tests in Karachi and Faisalabad

Sri Lanka has agreed to play a Test in Karachi in their forthcoming two-Test tour in October and November. Faisalabad will host the other Test, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Thursday. "Sri Lanka have confirmed they will be playing the Tests immediately after the tri-series being held from September 30 to October 16," said Abbas Zaidi, a PCB spokesman.

International teams have been wary of playing in Karachi ever since a bomb blast rocked the hotel in which the New Zealand team was staying, forcing the cancellation of the 2002 tour. After that, no international cricket was played in Karachi till the Indians played a one-day match during their recent tour of Pakistan.

These security concerns were brought to sharp focus in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in USA. Ever since then Karachi has been the target of bomb blasts, shootings and other disruptive terrorist activities. The News of Karachi says that even though the Sri Lankan board eventually agreed to play a Test in Karachi they had their reservations, and it only intervention by key figures in the Asian Cricket Council made them agree to play there.

The same report also quotes Zaidi as saying: "You can term it our success in convincing Sri Lanka to play the two Tests in Faisalabad and Karachi as a victory for quiet diplomacy. What is satisfying for us is that our endeavours to revive Karachi as a major Test centre have met with succes."

Zaidi said Sri Lanka had given their approval to the two venues after Pakistan had assured them of the best security cover for their tour. The first Test will be played from October 20 to 24 in Faisalabad and the second in Karachi from October 28 to November 1.

Sri Lanka's last Test in Pakistan was the final of the Asian Test Championship in March 2002. They won that match handsomely thanks mainly to a fighting 230 from Kumar Sangakkara. Before that, Sri Lanka toured Pakistan in 2000 and won the three-Test series 2-1.