Our terror background helped: Jayawardene

Colombo, Mar 4 (PTI) Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene
said his team's immediate reaction in taking cover when
terrorists attacked their team bus in Lahore was a natural
instinct to the continuing unrest in the island nation.

"We have been brought up in a background of terrorist
activities. We are used to hearing, seeing these things --
firing, bombings. So we ducked under our seats when the firing
began. It was like natural instinct," he told reporters.

A traumatised and shaken Sri Lankan cricket team arrived
here early Wednesday morning by a charted Sri Lankan airlines
flight.

The Sri Lanka cricketers were on their way to the Gaddafi
stadium for the third day's action of the second and final
Test when their bus was attacked by at least a dozen armed
terrorists.

Six players were injured in the incident while eight
others, most of them security personnel, were killed.

"The attack took place about 500 metres from the Qaddafi
ground (in Lahore) by unidentified gunmen who attacked the bus
in which we were travelling," Jayawardene said.

"During the attack every player took shelter by ducking
inside the bus. The security vehicle for the players was also
attacked, besides the bus," he said.

"We wish to forget this incident, put it behind us and
look forward and concentrate on our future matches. We were
lucky to come out of the attack," Jayawardene said.

Expressing solidarity with Pakistan, the Sri Lanka
skipper said the attack could have happened anywhere.

"We were not aware of security lapses. It's an
unfortunate incident. In hindsight, this could have happened
anywhere in the world," he said.

However, Jayawardene said the attack will force
cricketers to stop and think about their families before
packing their bags and heading for foreign shores.

"In the future, I think all of us will step back and look
at the bigger picture besides just touring abroad, taking into
account our families," added.

Jayawardene said the players just wanted to spend time
with their families now.

"I am a Buddhist and I think we have done some good work
in our previous birth to escape with minor injuries," he said
adding that "due to the cricketers' good luck and alacrity
shown by other fellow members we had a providential escape".

The middle-order batsman admitted that he couldn't
believe how they managed to escape with their life.

"Initially, of course, I was worried as there were bullet
holes in some parts of our bus. Somehow we escaped," he said.
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