The tri-series in Sri Lanka was on Monday thrown into jeopardy after South Africa, one of the teams in fray, expressed concerns about players' safety following a bomb explosion not very far away from their team hotel.
South African media manager Gordon Templeton said the security situation in the wake of the explosion, that killed seven persons and injured several others, is being reviewed and a final decision on the tour would be taken after a
meeting with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials on Tuesday.
"The South Africa team management went into a meeting with the SLC and the Indian team management in the afternoon. We are getting recommendations from our security personnel," Templeton said.
"Cricket South Africa is aware of the situation. After gathering the facts, we will hold the meeting with SLC officials in the morning after which we will take a decision [on whether to continue the tour]," he said.
Gordon's words reflected the mood in the South African camp which is in contrast to that of the Lankan and the Indian teams.
SLC media co-ordinator Samantha Algama said the hosts are concerned with the situation but had decided to go ahead with the tournament after taking into account the exact security scenario.
"The SLC chief executive officer Duleep Mendis held a meeting with the coaches and managers of the three teams and it was decided to provide maximum security to the teams, which was already in place."
"SLC is concerned about the situation but after the meeting it was decided that the tournament would go on," he added.
What South Africa seems to be worried about, and what the media manager would not say, is the fact that the explosion took place near the shopping mall which is just 2 km away from the hotel where they are staying and which their players had been frequently passing by during their stay in Colombo since last month.
"If we had not been playing a match today, the players might have been there," South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said.
The SLC statement that the series is on also seems to have upset the South Africa team.
"It definitely does not reflect the position of the South Africa team and it is that they have not agreed to [for the series to continue]. As far as South Africans are concerned, the discussion is still on although the decision could go either way," one of the touring South African journalists said.
Indian media manager Rajan Nair said that "there was no question of" the team going back home.
"The players had done their gym, their lunch and were about to go for an afternoon practice session but unfortunately, it was cancelled due to rains. They are very much in the comfort of the hotel, there was no panic," he said.
Meanwhile, the BCCI is in constant touch with the team management as well as the Indian High Commission in Colombo and has been apprised of the security beef-up for the team.
