Pakistan's cricketers came within a whisker of being caught up in the terrorist attack in Lahore this morning and owed their near-miss to a last-minute change of plan, according to the team's coach. Intikhab Alam said that the captain, Younis Khan, decided not to leave for the stadium at the same time as the Sri Lankans as they had previously.
According to Alam, both teams usually departed together at about 8:40am, but that did not happen this morning. "The Sri Lankans decided to leave five minutes early today and our captain had decided we would go separately," he said.
Alam said that the Pakistani players only came to know about the attack when they reached the nearby Mall road. They immediately returned to the hotel. "It was a terrifying incident and we sat down together worried about the Sri Lankan players' safety," he said. "We have been in touch with the Sri Lankan players and officials and we have done our best to show them our support."
He added that it was a black day in the history of Pakistan cricket, but insisted that the Pakistan Cricket Board should continue to try to convince other international teams that it was safe to tour the country.
"This could have happened anywhere in the world but we need to continue our efforts to convince teams it is safe to come and play in our country," he said.
A senior Pakistan board official has urged the international cricket community not to isolate the country following the attack. "I will only say what happened today is a great tragedy," the Pakistan Cricket Board's director of human resources, Wasim Bari, said.
"But at a time when terrorist attacks are taking place all over the world, Pakistan cricket should not be abandoned or isolated."
The former Test captain said he was greatly encouraged by statements coming out of Sri Lanka that they did not regret visiting Pakistan for the Test series and urged support rather than rejection.
"It is very easy now to just say 'let's stop going to Pakistan'," he added. "But we need the support of the international cricket community. We can still hold international matches. Terrorists have tried to hit cricket targets in other countries as well."
