Why Australia and West Indies refused to play in Sri Lanka during 1996 World Cup?

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Security is a massive factor in any aspect of life. And when security doubts can threaten a life, that requires pivotal steps to ensure utmost protection.

India and Pakistan cricket teams' ongoing saga regarding not entering one another's territory is due to security reasons. Both countries and governments fear for the lives of the players and that results in them not playing against each other in each other's territory.

Amid this issue, Pakistan will have to travel to India and despite New Delhi's maximum security warranty, it will be up to the Pakistan government in Islamabad to grant NOC to their national side for participation in the upcoming showpiece event.

But if 'security concern' makes Pakistan withdraw from the World Cup or not play in certain venues, that won't be the first instance in the history of the Cricket World Cup.

The only citation of any previous occurrence will take us back to some 27 years ago, back in 1996. And that time, the ICC World Cup was hosted in the sub-continent as India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan jointly hosted the tournament.

What happened in 1996 World Cup?

In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, West Indies and Australia boycotted to play a match in Sri Lanka. They were both scheduled to play in Colombo against the Lankans, but decided not to play there citing 'security reasons'.

As a result, Sri Lanka were granted a walkover and they won the points of those matches without any action. ICC also fined both West Indies and Australia for their non-participation.

Why West Indies and Australia refused to play in Sri Lanka in the 1996 World Cup?

The World Cup in 1996 started on February 15. Australia and West Indies were scheduled to play in Sri Lanka on February 17th and February 25th respectively.

But on January 31, around two weeks before the start of the World Cup, a major bomb blast stunned the Island country - which had been combating civil war for more than a decade by then. The Central Bank in Colombo was hit by a truck loaded with explosives. The vehicle, carrying 400 pounds of explosives hit the bank.

Apart from the gigantic bombings, there were exchanges of fire as well between the terrorists and the security forces. 91 people reportedly lost their lives in the blast and around 1,400 people were injured, over a hundred of them permanently lost their eyesight.

As a result, Sri Lanka's security measure was questioned. Australia and the West Indies feared similar incidents during their stay, which in turn fuelled their refusal to play in the country.

The points helped Sri Lanka as they went on to qualify for the semi-finals where they defeated India in Kolkata after the match was stopped due to the crowds' unruly behaviour as the Men In Blue suffered a batting collapse in the run chase.

The Lankan Lions met Australia in the final at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and Aravinda de Silva's century helped the Arjuna Ranatunga-led side lift their maiden ICC trophy on March 17, 1996.