Sri Lankan team arrives in Islamabad amid tight security

The Sri Lankan cricket team, led by opener Dimuth Karunaratne, arrived in Islamabad, amid tight security, on Monday ahead of two-match Test series against Pakistan.

After more than 10 years, Test cricket will return to Pakistan as the first Test will be played at the Pindi Cricket Stadium from December 11-15, while the second Test will be held at the National Stadium from December 19-23.

Originally, Sri Lanka were scheduled to play Tests in October and then return in December for white-ball cricket, but the matches were swapped to provide them the opportunity to assess the security situation before deciding on the Test venues.

Earlier in October, ten Sri Lanka cricketers had decided against touring Pakistan for the limited-overs leg citing security concerns.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) were forced to send a second string squad for the tour, which lost the One-day International (ODI) series two-nil to Pakistan but clean sweeped the hosts by three-nil in the Twenty20 International (T20I) series.

The Islanders have named a full strength squad for the upcoming series.

Squad

Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), Oshada Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Janith Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya De Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Dilruwan Perera, Lasith Embuldeniya, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lakshan Sandakan