It was the third day of the second test match in Lahore and barely an hour or two was left for the start of the game but the game never started, instead it was stopped for the next 10 years.
Image Credit source: AFP
In December 2022, New Zealand played cricket on Pakistani soil after many years. Played Test matches and ODI series. A few weeks before that, England also played a historic Test series, which was held after 17 years. A few months before that, Australia went to Pakistan after nearly 23 years and played a Test series and won. This year has been the most special for Pakistan cricket in the current century. Pakistan won the T20 World Cup, won the Champions Trophy in this century but for them the arrival of these teams was more special and there is a reason today’s dateWhen 12 terrorists changed Pakistan cricket early in the morning in Lahore.
March 3, 2009 was a dark day when the third Test match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore ended before it even started. What about only the third day, the entire Test match, the entire tour and international cricket in Pakistan was over for many years. The most horrifying incident in the history of cricket had shocked the whole world and left the already infamous Pakistan nowhere to show its face.
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Indiscriminate firing, grenade attack and panic
In the early morning, shots were fired suddenly on the Sri Lankan team bus going from the hotel to the stadium. Before anyone could understand anything, the firing became more intense. Suddenly a grenade also exploded near the bus. The Sri Lankan players sitting in the bus immediately bowed down in their respective places. Now everyone had understood that some of the hundreds of terrorists present in Pakistan have attacked this bus.
The policemen deployed for the security of the Sri Lankan team also retaliated and there was fierce firing from both sides. During this, 6 policemen were killed, while two other people also lost their lives. The driver of the Sri Lankan team bus did not lose courage despite the attack and kept on driving. Soon the team had reached the stadium.
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Sri Lankan players and umpire injured
However, 5 Sri Lankan players and support staff, including Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Parnavitana, were injured in the attack. The match referee and umpire were sitting in a minivan coming behind the bus and shots were fired at it as well. Its driver was killed, while umpire Ehsan Raza was injured by the bullet.
The terrorists fled after about 20 minutes of indiscriminate firing. At the same time, the injured players of the Sri Lankan team were given first aid and then taken to the airport by a helicopter of Pakistan Air Force. From here the team returned to the country in a special chartered plane.
cricket stopped in pakistan
This proved to be the last blow for Pakistan, which is already facing pressure from the cricket fraternity including the global fraternity due to terrorist attacks. Due to this, the hosting of the 2011 ODI World Cup was also snatched from Pakistan. And all the teams refused to go to Pakistan. No international match was played in Pakistan for 6 years. In 2015, Zimbabwe became the first team to visit Pakistan. Then 10 years after this attack, in 2019, Sri Lanka again visited Pakistan and Test cricket returned.
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