Since the attacks in 2009, no Test playing nation toured Pakistan because of the security concerns in the terror-struck nation.
Only Zimbabwe and Afghanistan have been there and played a limited-overs series. But cricket is getting back to the country, as Sri Lanka will play a three-match T20 series, with the third T20 to be played in Lahore.
Cricket in Pakistan is all set to begin as Sri Lanka has decided to go to Pakistan and play a T20 in Lahore. The rest of the series will be played in UAE where Pakistan had hosted all the matches after the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team in 2009. And now Sri Lanka has decided to tour the country again after eight years.
Suranga Lakmal and Chamara Kapugedra and are the only two players in the current 15-member T20 squad who were also a part of the Sri Lankan side which travelled to Pakistan in 2009. Several Sri Lankan players and staff members got injured in the terrorist attacks on the team bus in Lahore.
Suranga Lakmal was one of the players who was injured and revealed he still has splinters from the shooting in his left leg. Lakmal said,
“That was my first tour with the Sri Lankan team. I don’t like to talk about that day because I still have nightmares of that incident. I thought I was going to die that day. We were lucky. Lord Buddha saved us; It was like going to war without weapons. You are inside a bus, and four guys firing at you and you are like sitting ducks. Everyone was ducking for cover. There was panic in the bus. I thought I was gone. A splinter pierced into my left leg and I still have it on my leg. When I am in airports, I get into trouble as the metal detectors won’t let me in. Then the Manager comes up and explains to security people my story, and then I am allowed in,”
He also explained why he never got his leg operated and get the splinter removed. He said,
“Why I have not operated is that I am told after the operation, it takes a long time to recover. I will miss out on quite a bit of cricket. The other problem is that I can’t get an MRI scan done. If I do an MRI on my left leg, it comes blank. I am not too sure whether I will ever remove it. Once I am done with cricket, I will consult the surgeons and see. If they feel that it is not harmful for my body, I will let it be,”
The decision of going to Pakistan again and play the final T20 of the series is a decision of the team as a whole, “We have to decide as a team, and whatever the decision the team takes, I will abide by it. I have never worked on my whims and fancies. I am a team man. If I get selected and if the team is willing to go, then I will be on that flight,” he said.