While describing their ordeal following a terror attack on the team bus during the 2009 tour of Pakistan as a \u201chorrifying moment\u201d, Sri Lanka's pace great Chaminda Vaas and all-rounder Suranga Lakmal advised the players to be strong and careful, a report said on Thursday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sri Lanka\u2019s team bus came under heavy gunfire on the way to day three of the Lahore Test in 2009, leaving several players and an umpire injured. Several policemen who were providing security for the team were killed in the attack. The tour was abandoned, the shaken squad airlifted from an army base to Colombo, and Pakistan was frozen out of hosting international cricket for almost a decade.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The current Sri Lankan side was left rattled this week after a suicide bombing in Islamabad \u2014 just 25 kilometres from their hotel \u2014 killed 12 people. The players first pushed to abandon the tour, but after assurances from the Pakistan government, several agreed to stay put. Yet eight senior players still dug their heels in, forcing SLC to put replacements on standby.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After a marathon night of negotiations, all eventually agreed to remain, prompting the Pakistan Cricket Board to reshuffle fixtures and move matches from Lahore to Rawalpindi.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Several members of the 2009 squad shared their memories with Telecom Asia Sport, painting a grim picture of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. For veteran seamer Chaminda Vaas \u2014 Sri Lanka\u2019s most prolific fast bowler \u2014 the flashbacks remain vivid.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cLooking back, we are all grateful nothing worse happened,\u201d Vaas told Telecom Asia Sport (www.telecomasia.net). \u201cBut for the current boys, it won\u2019t be easy mentally. At the back of your mind, you\u2019re always thinking about safety,\u201d said www.telecomasia.net on Thursday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He said the short commute from hotel to ground \u2014 normally filled with banter and team chatter \u2014 becomes \u201cthe tensest passage of play\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Many in Sri Lanka believe the team should stay on, recalling how a combined India\u2013Pakistan XI toured Colombo before the 1996 World Cup after Australia and West Indies refused to visit, the report said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cPakistan has been our friend in need, no doubt,\u201d Vaas was quoted as saying in the report. \u201cPeople fear that teams might stop touring there again if Sri Lanka pulls the plug. It\u2019s a delicate issue \u2014 you need to handle it with soft hands.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
While Vaas was in the twilight of his career in 2009, for Suranga Lakmal it was his maiden overseas trip \u2014 and one that left scars that refuse to fade. \u201cI still carry the scars of that day,\u201d Lakmal, now living in Australia, told Telecom Asia Sport (www.telecomasia.net).<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cPakistan has been our friend in need, no doubt,\u201d Vaas was quoted as saying in the report. \u201cPeople fear that teams might stop touring there again if Sri Lanka pulls the plug. It\u2019s a delicate issue \u2014 you need to handle it with soft hands.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Lakmal said he declined an opportunity to tour Pakistan in 2017. \u201cMy mind was made up. It\u2019s very hard to focus on cricket after something like that. You\u2019re not in the right frame of mind \u2014 you keep thinking of your family and your parents.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n