A Dastardly Act!

anybody thought that sportsmen, especially cricketers, would not be affected by Terrorism, they were proved wrong woefully on March 3rth 2009, a day which would be remembered as one of the worst days for Pakistan, and perhaps the entire cricketing world. The Sri Lankan cricket team, which was the only team to visit Pakistan for nearly a year, nearly lost its cricketers due to a terrorist attack. 6 lankan cricketers nearly lost their lives, while one umpire was cricitically injured.

History of Attacks: Pakistan has never been a safe place to visit. Many cricketing nations, especially Australia, England, and South Africa despised even the thought of visiting Pakistan due to the threat of terrorist attacks. The New Zealand team which had braved all odds to tour Pakistan in 2002 returned back shell-shocked when a bomb explosion rocked the hotel where they stayed. Things went from bad to worse since the Military President Musharraf was replaced by a so-called Democratic government, whose rule helped the terrorists to mushroom immensely in Pakistan. Considering that the dreaded terrorist group, Taliban alias Al-Quaeda, had gained a stronghold in Pakistan, it was unwise of the Sri Lankan team to visit Pakistan. But as fate had it, the Sri Lankan team braved all obstacles to tour Pakistan and played a test match successfully.


An Ugly Incident: The second test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was in progress. Everything seemed fine as two days of the test match progressed peacefully. On the morning of the third day of the test match, the Sri Lankan team was on their way to the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore. Everything seemed routine till the team heard sounds of firing. After a few moments of shock, reality dawned in for Lankans, they were under attack from 12 well-equipped terrorists. Fortunately for the Lankans, the driver acted intelligently by turning the bus directly to the stadium. The terrorists had fired continuously at the Lankan Crickets. Since all the cricketers had ducked, they escaped with minor injuries. 6 of them namely Sangakkara, Jayawardane, Samanaweera, Mendis, and Vaas escaped with minor injuries. 6 Pakistani policemen died while trying to protect the lankan team. It was reported that a grenade aimed at the Van didn’t explode.

Terrorism knows no boundaries: Just a few months before, former cricketers like Imran Khan and Javed Miandad had urged the International teams to tour Pakistan. They promised a very high level of security. Imran Khan even told the press that the Cricketers won’t be targeted by terrorists as they knew that any attack on the cricketers would spell doom to them. But contrary to all their statements, the terrorists made a direct attempt to kill the Lankan cricketers. The most shocking fact was that this happened in broad daylight in a CITY. This proved the fact that the terrorists have only one aim in the mind, “To Kill and Terrorize”.

The Effects of this Incident on Cricket:
Now, the Sub-continent would no more be considered a peaceful place. Any main cricketing event would require high amounts of security. Countries like Australia, South Africa, England, and New Zealand would now have second thoughts before visiting countries like India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Pakistan would be now out of the Cricketing Radar for months, perhaps years. The World Cup 2011 schedule would be very badly affected. Totally, Cricket in the sub-continent would not only be remembered for its huge crowds, noisy atmosphere, colorful banners, cheerful people, and exciting matches, but also Terrorism. Hope our World Leaders find a solution to end this menace soon.