Tymal Mills, Kevin Pietersen and Luke Wright pull out of PSL final
Wednesday 1 March 2017 09:05, UK
England Twenty20 specialist Tymal Mills have pulled out of Sunday's Pakistan Super League final with Quetta Gladiators.
Quetta booked their spot in the decider with a one-run victory over Peshawar Zalmi but Mills joined former England captain Kevin Pietersen and all-rounder Luke Wright in withdrawing from the Lahore final due to safety concerns.
Mills will play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League next month, after becoming the tournament's second most expensive foreign player behind England colleague Ben Stokes in the auction.
He made his England debut against Sri Lanka at the Rose Bowl in July last year and played all three recent T20 internationals in the 2-1 series defeat to India.
The Sussex star took seven wickets in five games for the Gladiators and said: "Unfortunately I will not be travelling to Lahore for the final but will be watching from home and cheering on the boys who I know will fight just as much as they have all tournament.
"Massive thank you to everybody involved with the Quetta Gladiators and the PSL in general; I have had an awesome time and look forward to seeing everybody again soon!"
Wright joined Mills in making himself unavailable, citing safety concerns.
"It's with a heavy heart I will not be coming to Lahore," Mills' Sussex team-mate wrote on social media. "I have a young family and for me a game of cricket is just not worth the risk.
"I'm sorry as I know how much it means to you all and hopefully in the future the safety will not be in doubt to come play there.
"Thanks once again to @TeamQuetta and @thePSLt20 for having me. Such lovely people. Great tournament with so much talent. See u soon."
Pietersen revealed he was also heading back to London on Tuesday night, ahead of the Super League decider.
Dubai and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates have been the venues for every match up until the final.
The Pakistan national team have been playing almost entirely outside their homeland since a terrorist attack in Lahore on Sri Lanka's team bus in 2009.
Zimbabwe are the only full member to tour Pakistan since the incident when they had a three-match one-day series in 2015.
Watch exclusive coverage of the 2017 IPL on Sky Sports, from April 5.
