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On March 3, 2009, a Sri Lankan cricket team’s tour bus was attacked by terrorists in Lahore, resulting in the deaths of 6 officials and 2 civilians. The attack led to a halt in international cricket in Pakistan for years.
On This Day In 2009: The entire Sri Lankan team was airlifted in Pakistan’s Air Force helicopters. (Image: SriLankaTweet/X, formerly Twitter)
On This Day In 2009: It has been nearly 16 years since the Sri Lankan tour bus was attacked by terrorists in Lahore in Pakistan. The terror attack took place on this day (March 3) in 2009. The incident occurred on the third morning of a Test match. Just before 9 am local time, 12 gunmen made a surprise attack just outside the Gaddafi Stadium.
As the touring team bus crossed Liberty Statue, the gunmen started firing at the vehicle. There was a minivan carrying the match officials was also fired at. The dastardly terror attack saw six Pakistan officials and two civilians being killed. It also led to the International Cricket Council (ICC) stripping Pakistan of its 2011 World Cup hosting rights.
Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Bari, who was the Director of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) when the militant attack took place in 2009, recently recalled the details of that infamous day.
“It was the worst day in my life when news came through of what had happened. Everyone was numb and most of us in our offices realised immediately this was going to put Pakistan cricket back by a few years,” Bari was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
“It should never have happened and the result was Pakistan cricket couldn’t properly grow for the next 10 years, as all teams refused to play in Pakistan for security reasons,” Wasim Bari added.
From the Sri Lankan players’ bus, Thilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tharanga Paranavitana, Ajantha Mendis and Suranga Lakmal sustained injuries.
Samaraweera and Paranavitana were admitted to the hospital due to shrapnel injuries.
In the wake of this terror attack, all the cricketing nations decided not to tour Pakistan. This led the Asian giants to play their home matches in Dubai. International cricket made a return to Pakistan in 2015 when they hosted Zimbabwe. The two sides were involved in three ODIs and two T20Is back then.
Later in 2019, Sri Lanka decided to make a comeback to Pakistan. The two teams had played three ODIs and the same number of T20I matches then. Pakistan is currently hosting the 2025 Champions Trophy. This marked Pakistan hosting an ICC competition for the first time in 29 years.
