A military chopper on the cricket field, carrying players away to safety.
That one disturbing visual shouts out that this was a sad day – for humanity, for sports, and for cricket. This was undoubtedly the saddest morning that international cricket, and millions that love the game, has ever seen. A terrible, terrible day.
A terrorist attack on the touring Sri Lanka team while their going to Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore ahead of the third day of the second Test left several Sri Lanka players – Chaminda Vaas, Ajantha Mendis, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Kumar Sangakkara, Tharanga Paranavitana, and Suranga Lakmal injured. Samaraweera and Paranavitana had to be taken to the hospital. The vehicle carrying match officials was also hit, and the fourth umpire Ehsan Raza is in a critical condition in an intensive care unit in Lahore. Six security personnel and two civilians were killed in the attack.
The Test match was called off and the tour was immediately cancelled. Sri Lanka’s cricketers were evacuated from Gaddafi stadium in a military chopper and taken to a nearby airbase from where they were flown back to Colombo.
The second Test was the last match of Sri Lanka’s tour to Pakistan, which was arranged after Team India was ordered by the government authorities to cancel the tour Pakistan following the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008. Sri Lanka, who does not has any history of troubled relations with Pakistan, was gracious enough to tour Pakistan, and help Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to recover financial loss due to cancellation of India’s tour, and also as a show of solidarity. Pakistan had not played Test cricket since 2007 as several international teams cancelled tours due to security fears.
The incident is perhaps the first terrorist attack against an international sporting team since Palestinian militants attacked Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics and eleven members of the Israel contingent were killed – a black day in international sports. In Pakistan, it was for long argued by cricket officials and fans that irrespective of internal security issues, terrorists would never dare to target home or visiting cricketers. It was often feared that cricketers might be caught up in random terrorist attacks in the places they tour, but it was the first time that a cricket team was deliberately targeted.
The gentlemen’s game didn’t deserve it and cricket has lost its innocence. A military chopper on the cricket field was just not right.
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