Ehsan Mani, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, has called India a “far greater security risk” than his strife-torn country, where Test cricket returned for the first time after the 2009 terror attack in Lahore.

Mani made the remarks after his team scripted a 263-run mauling of Sri Lanka.

“We have proved that Pakistan is safe, if someone isn’t coming then they should prove that it’s unsafe. At this time, India is a far greater security risk than Pakistan,” cricketpakistan.com.pk quoted Mani as saying.

“No one should now doubt security arrangements in Pakistan after the successful Sri Lanka Test series. This is a turning point for revival of Test cricket in Pakistan.”

Pakistan were due to host Bangladesh in January for three T20Is and two Tests but some BCB top officials have been quoted as saying that they will not be playing the five-day format in Pakistan due to security concerns.

Mani saw no reason why Bangladesh can’t play in Pakistan. “We have just hosted Sri Lanka which was a far greater security risk as they were the ones who were targeted 10 years back. But they came and we provided them state of the art security,” Mani said.

‘200 per cent safe’

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne called security for the two-Test series “200 per cent” and promised to return.

He said: “The security was really good. They were like fathers for us. They kept talking to us and they were right behind us every time. Pakistan fans are really good — they kept supporting us. What I can say is that it’s really safe here and that all the other countries playing cricket — they can come and play in Pakistan.”