Out of the 40 contracted players, who had requested Sri Lanka Cricket to reconsider their decision to play the last Twenty20 International in Lahore, seven players have changed their minds and agreed to tour Pakistan.
However, the board is yet to get the consent of captain Upul Tharanga, who on Monday made himself unavailable for the game. Fast bowler Lasith Malinga is also highly unlikely to feature in the one off T20 International. Meetings were taking place between officials and the players on Tuesday evening and authorities were confident that they will be able to send a balanced team.
"As of now, from the 22 players we had in mind, 15 have given consent to go to Lahore. We don't want to upset their preparation for the third ODI which is on Wednesday. By Thursday, the day after the game, we will have a fair idea who is available. That will give us an opportunity to prune the squad to 15," a top SLC official told Cricbuzz on Tuesday (October 17).
Meanwhile, Kusal Perera, who was tipped to take over the captaincy subsequent to Tharanga's withdrawal subject to fitness, has failed a fitness test in Colombo. Perera, who returned home early from Champions Trophy in June with a hamstring injury, is in the last stages of his recovery process.
SLC sources said that three players who are in the Caribbean with Sri Lanka 'A' team - Dasun Shanaka, Shean Jayasuriya and Wanindu Hasaranga too had agreed to be part of the Lahore leg of the current series against Pakistan.
Sri Lanka's Manager Asanka Gurusinha earlier had expressed his confidence that more players will agree to tour. The support staff had earlier decided to make the trip giving SLC a short in the arm to go ahead with the tour.
SLC's Executive Committee met on Monday and studied a detailed security report the ICC had prepared after the World XI series. The World XI played three matches in Lahore and Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera was part of that squad as well.
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