Sarfraz Ahmed hopes Lanka will travel to Pakistan

Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed is hoping that Sri Lanka would travel to Lahore later this month for the scheduled third and final T20I to be held on 29 October at the Gaddafi Stadium.

In the wake of Pakistan's successful hosting of World XI for three-match T20I series in Lahore last month, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had scheduled to host Sri Lanka for at least one of the three T20Is, and for that the hosts had been promising adequate security.

However, 40 contracted players of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had handed a letter to the board, asking it to reconsider the venue for the last game of the ongoing bilateral series.

But, Sarfraz assured the Sri Lankan players of safety and security in his country, saying that there is nothing to worry.

"See, as such there is no issue. I don't know what is happening [in the Sri Lanka camp]. There team should come. The recent World XI tour was successful, so they should not be worried," the Dawn quoted Sarfraz as saying.

Speaking on the eve of second ODI against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, Sarfraz also cited the example of Thisara Perera, who visited Lahore with the World XI.

"Their players did come [with the World XI], Thisara Perera came and played. Their team should visit and I hope they do come," Sarfraz said.

No Test side has toured Pakistan since the March 2009 militants attack on the Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore, killing six Pakistani policemen and injuring some of the visiting players. However, low-ranked sides namely Afghanistan and Zimbabwe had toured the country for a limited-over series.

Since 2009, Pakistan have played most of their "home" games in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), although they hosted Australia in England in 2010.

-ANI