Colombo, August 17 :

Sri Lanka’s cricket chiefs and media slammed South Africa on Thursday for pulling out of the tri-series as India looked forward to playing three matches against the hosts.

The Proteas abandoned the tri-series on Wednesday, saying “the current risk to the team is at an unacceptable level” following a blast near their hotel on Monday which killed seven people and injured eight.

India, not surprisingly, was praised for staying in Colombo to play three one-day internationals against the hosts on Friday, Sunday and Tuesday in lieu of the tri-series. The three matches will be played as day games at the Sinhalese sports club with a reserve day being kept aside for each match in case of bad weather.

The tri-series did not see a ball being bowled in the first two matches due to heavy rain which lashed the Sri Lankan capital over the last week. Indian captain Rahul Dravid said his team was more concerned about the weather than the security arrangements in place.

“Everyone is keen to play. We are probably worried more about the weather than the security.” Dravid denied there was any contradiction between South Africa flying home and the Indians opting to stay.

Dravid hoped the three one-dayers to follow will bring cricket back to the forefront in the troubled island nation. “We have come here to play cricket and everyone in our team is conscious of the importance that cricket enjoys in Sri Lanka as well as India,” he said.

Sri Lanka had proposed five matches but India agreed to play only three. The ICC said it would not act immediately on the Proteas’ pullout.