Rewind: The Deadly 2009 Terror Attack That Snatched International Cricket Away From Pakistan

The 2009 attack in Lahore on the Sri Lankan team was such a devastating incident, it ended international cricket in Pakistan

Amid terror attack threats, Pakistan looks forward to resumption of cricket on their home soil and is all set to host Sri Lanka in three ODIs and T20Is, at Karachi and Lahore, with the first ODI starting on Friday. The last match Pakistan hosted on its 'home soil' was a 50-over bilateral series against Zimbabwe in 2015. The safety of touring cricket teams in Pakistan had come under extreme criticism and invited outrage from cricketing boards all over the world when the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in 2009. The attack on the Sri Lankan team was such a devastating incident, it ended international cricket in Pakistan 2009 Terror Attack On Sri Lanka Cricket Team The streets of Lahore were hit by a deadly terror attack on a high profile Sri Lankan cricket team on 3 March 2009 near Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan. 12 heavily armed attackers unleashed attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus and its police escorts. The attack was believed to have been carried out by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Six members of the Sri Lanka national cricket team were wounded. Six Pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed in the attack. A mini bus carrying match officials was also attacked, two of the injured cricketers, Samaraweera and Paranavitana had hospital treatment, one wounded in the chest, the other in the leg. One of the former head of Pakistani cricket, Arif Ali Abassi, said that the match should not have been played in unstable Lahore, which was then under emergency governor rule, calling security an abject failure. The Sri Lankan cricketers were airlifted from the pitch via Pakistan Air Force Mil Mi-17 helicopters which had become their temporary refuge. They were here as late replacements for the Indian team which had pulled out of its scheduled tour after the Mumbai attacks. The Aftermath In the aftermath, New Zealand cricket team cancelled its December 2009 tour of Pakistan. Bangladesh also put off a scheduled tour by Pakistan to Bangladesh. The 2011 Cricket World Cup was to be co-hosted by Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, but in the wake of this attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team the International Cricket Council (ICC) stripped Pakistan of its hosting rights due to security concerns. The Sri Lankan Foreign minister had said the Sri Lankan cricket team "will give highest consideration to the invitation extended to it to undertake visit again. Sri Lanka will not allow Pakistan's isolation in cricket." Pakistan Urges Fans To Support 'Both The Teams And Cricket' Ahead of the much-awaited match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the hosts urged the fans to come out in huge numbers to support 'both the teams and cricket'. "History will be made on Friday when Karachi will host the first bilateral ODI series since January 2009. I request all local cricket fans to be part of history so that they can tell the next generation that they were at the National Stadium when an international series was played," skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed said.