Sri Lanka follow Tigers tour lead

Captains Ashraful (left) and Malik will play a one-day series

Sri Lanka have joined Bangladesh in agreeing to fill the gap left by Australia and tour Pakistan in April.

Australia called off this month's tour because of security concerns following a spate of bombings in Pakistan.

The Tigers will play five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match from 6-22 April in Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad and Karachi.

And Sri Lanka will play a five-match one-day series, probably after their tour of the West Indies on 15 April.

Pakistan chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said he intends to blood youngsters during the forthcoming one-day series with Bangladesh.

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"We want to try out more rookies in the home series," he said.

"Bangladesh can be a dangerous team on their day. For us, the most important task would be to win the series and win comfortably."