Lahore awaits Sri Lanka return eight years after shooting

Come Sunday (October 29), Sri Lanka will return to Pakistan for T20I eight years after their team bus was ambushed by gunmen in Lahore. Rex Clementine, a journalist based in Colombo and follows the Sri Lankan team closely, tells us the significance of this visit.

Lahore, October 27: Pakistan have been Sri Lanka's strongest ally in cricket over the years. In that context, it was not difficult to understand when Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) turned to Sri Lanka to bring international cricket back to the country.

This visit on October 29 for a T20I is no ordinary one. Eight years have passed since a Sri Lankan team bus was ambushed by heavily armed gunmen, injuring several players and support staff.

A quick recap will help you fathom the gravity of that incident. Thilan Samaraweera was worst affected as he went through surgeries in Colombo after being airlifted from Lahore. An inch long bullet was removed from his leg.

Suranga Lakmal and Chamara Kapugedera were also hurt and Lakmal still carries splinters on his leg and has trouble going through security at airports as metal detectors beep.

Since that unfortunate incident on March 3, 2009, only Zimbabwe and a World XI have toured Pakistan. Sri Lanka are the first top cricketing side to come to this shore and it makes for an emotional full circle of events. Hunted making a brave foray back to a place that gave them the most hurtful - physical as well as mental - moments.

After the T20I was confirmed, 40 Sri Lankan players handed SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala a letter indicating their unwillingness to travel to Lahore.

Soon the board officials flew down to the UAE to start negotiations with the players.
After assessment from the ICC and a briefing from PCB, several players softened their stance. Still seven players, who would have been part of Sri Lanka's T20 squad including captain Upul Tharanga and Lasith Malinga pulled out.

Coach Nic Pothas and physiotherapist Nirmalan Dhanabalasingham also indicated their unwillingness to travel.

Now, Sri Lanka will be captained by Thisara Perera, who was in Lahore for the World XI games last month.

When Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena visited Pakistan last year, a request was made by the Pakistan Government to send the cricket team to the country. Since then both boards have been working closely to make the game a reality.

As a goodwill gesture, both Sumathipala and Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara, members of Sirisena's ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party, will travel to Lahore.

Despite what happened in 2009, most Sri Lankans feel the need to help Pakistan, who had been extremely loyal to them during troubled times.

In 2000, when Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched an offensive to recapture Jaffna, Sri Lanka sought Pakistan's assistance and then President General Parvez Mushfraff sent weapons worth millions of dollars and Sri Lanka were able to hold on to Jaffna.

In retaliation, the LTTE attempted to assassinate Pakistan's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Bashir Wali Mohamed.

In 1996, with Australia and West Indies refusing to come to Colombo to play their World Cup games due to security reasons, the sub-continent solidarity came in handy.

While West Indies and Australia were requesting for a venue change, Jagmohan Dalmiya, then the head of PILCOM (Pakistan, India, Lanka Committee) the organizing body of the World Cup, arranged a joint India-Pakistan team to go and play in Colombo.

Dalmiya was able to argue that security was fine in Colombo after the game and ruled that both Windies and Australia had forfeited their Colombo games.

This was two weeks after the Central Bank Bombing that killed more than 90 people.

Sri Lankan stalwarts fondly recall other instances of how Pakistan had helped Sri Lanka.
Neil Perera, who has served Sri Lanka Cricket for 27 years including a spell as its secretary, explained Pakistan's support to the country.

"Our case for Test status was brought up so forcefully by Abdul Hafeez Kardar in the 1970s. But there was staunch opposition from Australia or England. Sri Lankan cricket owes a lot to Kardar. He initiated the Ali Bhutto Trophy between our Under-19 sides and then provided scholarships to our coaches to be trained in Pakistan," he said.

Sunil Wettimuny, the eldest of three Wettimuny brothers, who represented the country, was the first Sri Lankan to score a half-century in ODI cricket.

He went onto become a pilot after retirement and was the man who took the team back home after the 1996 triumph.

"I have never seen a nation supporting another nation in a sporting encounter before. That night in Lahore, if you went out for a meal, you were not charged. If you went for shopping, you were not charged. The only thing you had to say was that you are Sri Lankan," Wettimuny said.

Now, that long friendship has a fresh chapter to it.