Ten Sri Lanka players pull out of limited-overs Pakistan tour

Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne are the most high-profile names who have opted out following a security briefing with the Sri Lanka Cricket board

Ten Sri Lanka players have pulled out of their side's limited-overs tour of Pakistan, delivering a substantial blow to the PCB who had planned to see Test cricket return to the country.

Lasith Malinga and Dimuth Karunaratne, the current T20I and ODI captains, along with former skipper Angelo Mathews are the most high-profile names who have opted out following a security briefing with the Sri Lanka Cricket board.

The trio have been joined by Dinesh Chandimal, Suranga Lakmal, Thisara Perera, Akila Dhananjaya, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera and Niroshan Dickwella in refusing to travel.

SLC statement on the tour of Pakistan - https://t.co/AhEIQNp1aQ #SLvPAK #PAKvSL

— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) September 9, 2019

Kusal Mendis will also miss the T20I and ODI matches against Pakistan, but he is unavailable for selection due to a leg injury he sustained during the recently concluded T20I series against New Zealand.

Sri Lanka are due to play three ODIs in Karachi on September 27, 29 and October 3, followed by as the same number of T20Is in Lahore on October 5, 7 and 9.

Sri Lanka are also scheduled to return in December for the Test series that will be a part of the World Test Championship, but none of the squads for any of the matches have yet to be announced.