COLOMBO: Sri Lankan cricket captain Mahela Jayawardene says living in a country troubled by civil war helped save his team as it came under fire from gunmen in Pakistan.
The Sri Lankan team returned on a special charter flight early yesterday to the capital Colombo, where the exhausted-looking players had an emotional private reunion with their families. Batsman Thilan Samaraweera was seen being taken from the airport to a hospital in Colombo.
Jayawardene said Tuesday’s attack in Lahore should prompt cricket authorities to put player security higher on the list of criteria in assessing the viability of tours.
“This is something for all of us to realize, whoever made all these decisions... that we need to think more than cricket,” said Jayawardene.
“It’s about families, livelihoods, kids, wives, parents everybody. We need to look at the bigger picture and hopefully in the future we can make right decisions looking at all these and not just the small things.”
At least a dozen men ambushed the Sri Lanka team with rifles, grenades and rockets, converging on the squad’s convoy as it drove near Gaddafi Stadium on its way to play the third day of the second test against Pakistan.
Even though the bus was peppered with 25 bullet holes, none of the players were killed. Seven players and a coach sustained injuries, none life-threatening, but six policemen and a driver died. An umpire was being treated for serious wounds.
Jayawardene said his players’ instinctive reaction to the attack arose from their lives in Sri Lanka, long affected by civil war.
“We have been brought up in a background of terrorist activities,” Jayawardene told reporters at the airport.
“We are used to hearing, seeing these things. Firing, bombings. So we ducked under our seats when the firing began. It was like natural instinct. We were all tucked under the seats,” said Jayawardene, who was cut on the foot by debris. “Our guys were getting hurt and screaming but we couldn't help each other. We were just hoping that we will not get hit. None of us thought that we would come alive out of the situation. We had no defense in our system, we just hoped that we won’t get hit. There were bullets flying all over the place, apparently there was mortar attack which luckily missed the bus,” said Jayawardene.
Batsman Tharanga Paranavitana came closest to a serious injury, with a bullet brushing his chest.
Working in pairs, the attackers in Lahore carried walkie-talkies and backpacks stuffed with water, dried fruit and other high-energy food — a sign they anticipated a protracted siege and may have been planning to take the players hostage, an official said.
None of the gunmen were killed and all apparently escaped after a 15-minute gunbattle with the convoy’s security detail.
Veteran Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan told reporters on his return to Colombo that he feared for his life during the attack.
“All the while bullets were being sprayed at our bus, people around me were shouting,” he said. “I am glad to be back.” It was a sentiment echoed by Jayawardene, who had announced pre-tour that he would step down from the Sri Lanka captaincy after the visit to Pakistan.
“I’m very happy that I could see my family, and come back to Sri Lanka in one piece,” he said. “Every breath I take I'm glad that I can take it without a problem.”
The cricketers returned home yesterday to tearful hugs.
Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge welcomed the side’s safe arrival under tight security at Colombo airport.
Batsmen Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana, who were treated in hospital in Pakistan, were among the first of the 25-member touring party to leave the airport to be taken to a private hospital in Colombo.
“Both of them may need further treatment and surgery,” said Geethanjana Mendis, a sports medicine specialist who traveled to Pakistan to assess the wounded before their return flight.
He said the entire team needed medical evaluation while some would require more care, although none of the injuries were life-threatening.
Vice Captain Kumar Sangakkara, another of the wounded, described his terrifying brush with death.
“For some reason I moved my head to get a better view and a split second later I felt a bullet fizz past my ear into the vacant seat,” he told the cricinfo website.
The parents of injured medium pace bowler Suranga Lakmal embraced and wept as their son walked out of the airport lounge.
“He is our only son. We have not eaten anything since we heard the news,” his father Albert said.
Before leaving Pakistan, Jayawardene had extended his gratitude to the bus driver for possibly saving the team, who were being escorted to the Gaddafi stadium for the third day's play of the second Test.
“We owe the team bus driver our lives for his remarkable bravery in the face of direct gunfire,” he said in a statement.
“Had he not had the courage and presence of mind to get the bus moving after the initial attack then we'd have been a far easier target for the terrorists.” Jayawardene expressed the team's “deepest and heartfelt condolences” to the families of those killed.
