Pakistan cricket yesterday marked the first anniversary of a devastating gun and grenade attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, searching for a revival of fortune and path out of isolation.
Seven Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach were injured and eight Pakistanis killed when attackers on foot opened fire and hurled grenades at the tourists’ bus en route to the Gaddaffi Stadium in the city of Lahore.
The attackers escaped, the second Test was abandoned and the Sri Lankan team flown home as condemnation poured in and the al-Qaeda-linked menace in Pakistan was again flung into the spotlight.
The attack ended hopes in the cricket-mad nation of hosting international matches in the immediate future.
Pakistan had already been a virtual no-go zone for foreign teams since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which put the nuclear-armed country on the front line of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and the war against al-Qaeda.
The Sri Lankan team had been in Pakistan only to replace India who canceled a tour after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, which were blamed on Pakistani militants, and suspended a four-year peace process.
Police and the law minister of Punjab Province, Rana Sanaullah, laid wreaths at the scene of the attack in Liberty Square yesterday, saluting six police and two civilians who were killed.
“We are here to remember the sacrifices given by our brave policemen. The whole nation is proud of them,” Sanaullah said.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and players would also hold a memorial ceremony, lay flowers and observe a one-minute silence, officials said.
“It was tragic and shook our cricket,” PCB chief operating officer Wasim Bari said.
“We must remember all those who gave their lives to save the Sri Lankan cricketers and PCB chairman Ijaz Butt will visit the site to offer prayers for those killed in attacks,” he said.
A month after the March 3 attacks last year, the International Cricket Council (ICC) stripped Pakistan of the 14 matches it had been scheduled to host for the 2011 World Cup with no international team willing to play there.
Butt has said Pakistan lost at least US$40 million over India’s tour cancellation and feared an annual US$70 million loss in television rights if teams continued to refuse tours.
But Bari hoped for a better future.
“We hope that as ground realities change, things will improve and international cricket will be revived in Pakistan,” Bari said.
More than 1,130 people have perished in suicide and bomb attacks across Pakistan since the Sri Lankan assault, bringing to more than 3,000 the number to have died in an al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked campaign since July 2007.
“It was tragic,” said former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja, a commentator during the Test when the Sri Lankans were attacked. “Pakistan is suffering its impact not only in cricket but also in other sports as we have not been able to host any international sporting event since then.”
Raja called for a “rebirth,” likening the gravity of the incident for Pakistan cricket to what New York and Washington suffered after the Sept. 11 attacks, and the Indian financial capital after the Mumbai attacks.
“But I salute Pakistani fans for keeping the interest in cricket alive, despite having no matches,” said Raja, a member of an ICC task force striving to revive cricket in Pakistan.
Australia have not toured Pakistan since 1998 citing security fears. Over the last year, Pakistan have been forced to play their home series in United Arab Emirates and New Zealand.
They are due to play Australia in two Twenty20 matches and two Tests — originally scheduled for Pakistan — in England later this year.
“For the sake of millions of people who love the game of cricket, international events will come back to Pakistan. I sincerely hope this is not very far,” Bari said.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
Naomi Osaka is braced for a “battle” after yesterday setting up a clash with Coco Gauff in the round-of-16 of the China Open, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka also marched on. Osaka defeated 60th-ranked American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Gauff in a showdown of former US Open champions in Beijing. World No. 2 Sabalenka swatted aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-2 for her 14th consecutive victory and plays another American in 24th-ranked Madison Keys. Looking ahead to the Gauff meeting, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said: “She’s very athletic, obviously.” “For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve,
RSS