NEW DELHI: The government has handed over the security of the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team to Pakistan's military forces after Army chief Asim Munir intervened, following a series of bomb blasts in Islamabad.

PCB chairman and federal interior minister Mohsin Naqvi stated that, with state-level security now in place, the team's safety is being managed by the army and rangers in coordination with the police.

Speaking to the media in Rawalpindi on Thursday night after meeting the Pakistani and Sri Lankan players at the stadium, Naqvi said the Sri Lankan government and cricket board had shown strong support for Pakistan cricket by continuing with the tour.

"The positive outcome was only achieved through sustained engagement between Pakistani and Sri Lankan leadership," he said.

He also confirmed that Army chief Munir had assured Sri Lankan Defence Minister Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon of the team's safety.

"The Field Marshal himself spoke to the Sri Lankan Defence Minister and Secretary and I am grateful the players showed great bravery to decide to remain in Pakistan," he added.

Naqvi said that he himself had held a long meeting with the Sri Lankan players to assure them their safety and well being was the responsibility of the Pakistan government.

"They had many concerns, but we tried to allay all of those," Naqvi said, highlighting that Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake spoke with his country's team to convince them.

The New Zealand team had abandoned their white ball tour of Pakistan in September 2021 after getting creditable intel about security threats to them in Rawalpindi.

(With PTI Inputs)