Pakistan's Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter to blame India for the Sri Lankan players' decision to not travel to Pakistan due to security issues. The minister stated that he got information about India's interference in the matter. Chaudhry was then trolled on the social media platform for his comments.
According to Chaudhry, India has threatened the Sri Lankan players that they will not be allowed to participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL) if the cricketers go and play in Pakistan.
"Informed sports commentators told me that India threatened SL players that they ll be ousted from IPL if they don't refuse Pak visit, this is really cheap tactic, jingoism from sports to space is something we must condemn, really cheap on the part of Indian sports authorities," his tweet read.
Informed sports commentators told me that India threatened SL players that they ll be ousted from IPL if they don't refuse Pak visit, this is really cheap tactic, jingoism from sports to space is something we must condemn, really cheap on the part of Indian sports authorities
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) September 10, 2019
The Sri Lankan team will face a major crisis in the Pakistan tour as most of their senior players have decided to not take part in the series.
Their T20 international skipper Lasith Malinga, along with Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Suranga Lakmal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Thisara Perera, Akila Dhananjaya, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera and Niroshan Dickwella, have opted out of the series. Out of these players, only Malinga had an IPL deal this year. So the statement he made does not make any sense to the netizens.
The Pakistani minister was in the news recently after he tweeted regarding ISRO's communication failure with Chandrayaan-2's Vikram lander, using the hashtag "India Failed". He was criticised severely by Indians and people all over the world. This time again he made a provocative comment and got trolled by people all over the world.
The Sri Lankan team played a Test and a T20 series against New Zealand, which started on August 14. The Kiwis drew the Test series whereas they defeated Sri Lanka 2-1 in the T20 edition. Both the teams are currently placed second and third in the ICC World Test Championship with 60 points.
The Lions are slated to face Pakistan in a three-match ODI and T20 series. The first fixture is scheduled for September 27 in Karachi.
