🔥WHEN A TEAM’S FEAR IS IGNORED, THE GAME IS NO LONGER A SPORT

Cricketers are not soldiers.
They are not diplomats.
They are not bargaining chips in international politics.

They are athletes — and their safety should be non-negotiable.

But what is happening with the Sri Lankan cricket team today raises alarming questions about pressure, politics, and power. When 16 players reportedly expressed unwillingness to continue a tour due to safety concerns, the only moral response should have been immediate evacuation.

Instead, a different message was delivered:
Stay — or risk losing your place in the national team.

This is not a selection policy.
This is coercion masquerading as a cricket board's logo.

🏏 THE BACKDROP: A TRAUMA sri lanka CAN NEVER FORGET

In 2009, the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked.
Bullets. Blood. Injuries.

The world watched in horror.

That memory is not a statistic — it is a national scar.

A wound that should make player safety the No. 1 priority in every future decision.

It is shocking, then, that players who carry that history in their minds are reportedly being pushed into a tour they themselves fear.

A cricket board must protect its players, not pressure them into reliving their worst nightmare.

⚠️ WHEN CRICKETERS SAY “WE DON’T FEEL SAFE,” LISTENING IS NOT OPTIONAL

The reports that multiple players expressed unwillingness to tour — yet were told they might be dropped if they leave — paint a deeply troubling picture.

Such coercion raises questions like:

✔ Who benefits from forcing this tour?
✔ Why are player concerns being dismissed?
✔ Why is administrative ego more important than athlete safety?
✔ What message does this send to the world of cricket?

Athletes should never be made to choose between their career and their life.

No game is worth that trade-off.

🌍 international cricket CAN’T IGNORE PLAYER FEAR

cricket bodies across the world — ICC included — must ask themselves:

If 16 players feel unsafe, why are they still on the field?
Who authorised a decision that overrides player autonomy?
Why is the cricketing world so silent?

The idea of “neutral venues” exists for a reason: to remove risk when a location becomes questionable.

If players do not feel secure, no amount of political reassurance can replace genuine protection.

🤝 ATHLETES DESERVE CONSENT, NOT COMPULSION

This is bigger than Sri Lanka.
It is about the basic rights of every cricketer in the world.

A player’s refusal to participate in a match due to safety fears is not indiscipline.

It is not “lack of commitment.”
It is not “unprofessional.”

It is human.

Forcing players to participate is not leadership — it is a failure of leadership.

💔 THE MOST TRAGIC PART: A TEAM FEELS BETRAYED BY ITS OWN BOARD

When players look over their shoulders, not at the crowd, but at danger — when they worry not about the match outcome, but about reaching home safely — the soul of the sport is lost.

A cricket board must be the shield that protects its players.

But today, it feels like that shield has turned into a sword — used not for protection, but pressure.

This is not administration.
This is abandonment.

🙏 A PRAYER FOR SAFETY — AND A WAKEUP CALL FOR ACCOUNTABILITY

Every fan — not just Sri Lankan — hopes the players return home unharmed.

But hope is not a security plan.
Prayers are not protective gear.

And courage cannot replace caution.

If the anger, fear, and frustration among players are real, the board must face consequences — not the athletes.

Because cricket will survive bad batting, bad bowling, bad selection — but it will not survive a tragedy caused by human negligence.

✨ NO PLAYER SHOULD BE SACRIFICED FOR POLITICS, PUBLICITY, OR PRESSURE

The world of cricket must take a stand.

Safety is not negotiable.
Consent is not optional.
Pressure is not policy.

If a team is forced to play against its will, it is no longer cricket — it is exploitation.

Sri Lanka’s players deserve respect.
They deserve safety.
They deserve a board that protects them, not one they fear.

cricket is a game.
Lives are not.