Lahore attack

• This is an extract from Kumar Sangakkara's Colin Cowdrey Lecture delivered on 5th of July 2011 at Lord's cricket ground, London
• The Cowdrey Lecture is touching on the history, culture, opportunities for Sri Lankan cricket and it is a moving recounting of the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Pakistan
• The text under study here is the section titled as 'The Lahore Attack', one of the many subdivisions of Sangakkara's speech at Lord's
• The Lahore Attack happened in March 2009, during the peak of the war in Sri Lanka which ended in May 2009
• The type of experience the Sri Lankan team had in Pakistan was not an alien or unfamiliar experience for Sri Lankans but to sanghakara .
• Elocutionary force comes from 


  The sheer love and regard for his country and countrymen
• Responsibility as a leader

  The love and regard the people of Sri Lanka have for the game of cricket and cricketers should be reciprocated by the cricketers
• Kumar Sangakkara is one of Sri Lanka's foremost cricketers who has received international acclaim
• Sangakkara was one of the most important members of the team that won the 2014 World T20 as well as the team that made the finals to the 2007 World Cup and the 2012 World T20
• Sangakkara captained the national team from 2008 to 2011 stepping down after the 2011 world cup finals
• In 2011, Sangakkara was named the ODI cricketer of the year at the ICC Cricket Awards Ceremony
• The Lahore Attack happened

  March 2009
• The other sections of if the speech are " the history of srilanka " " srilankas cricketing roots " " race riots and bloody conflicts " " an identity crisis " " arjunas leadership " " the search for unique players " " the unifying impact of 1996 world cup " " the economic impact of being the world champions " " bigger roles fpr the cricketers " " post 1996 power politics " " a team powered by talents " " the challenge ahead for srilanka " " crickets hightened importance in srilankas new era " .
• The section of the speech under study is "The Lahore Attack"
• This section of the speech discusses the experience the Sri Lankan cricket team had in Pakistan when it was attacked by a group of terrorists on their way to the cricket stadium
• Sangakkara was also on the same bus that was attacked
• Sangakkara begins the section by talking about the civil war that had lasted for thirty years in Sri Lanka
• This exposition of the Lahore attack builds an atmosphere of a natural violence that is common in the modern world as far as civil war or terrorism is concerned
• Sangakkara says he was fortunate that during his life he never experienced violence in Sri Lanka first hand
• Colombo experienced the violence of the civil war from time to time, but compared to some places, it was lucky not to have experienced violence so much
• Most of the time, people in Colombo lived an ordinary life
• Sangakkara considers the type of life the people lived in places like Colombo as a luxury, an advantage that people in other parts of the country did not often have because their life was physically cut off from violence most of the time
• Colombo was conducive enough to play cricket, which tells us that while in some parts of the country the living conditions were unsafe and life-threatening, in some other parts the conditions were good enough to relax and play cricket
• Sangakkara admits that he has not had any real experience of the thirty-year war, so his idea of war is formed from the war discourses in the country, both the discourse of the North and East and the South
• Sangakkara is unable to empathize with those people who lived amidst violence, and the only feeling he can afford to share is compassion
• Everything changes for Sangakkara when he goes to play the second Test match in Lahore in 2009, as the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team just outside the stadium becomes a turning point in his life and his attitude towards violence in Sri Lanka
• The Sri Lankan players were anticipating a lot of hard work in the second Test match, and Thilan Thushara even makes an ominous statement wishing a bomb went off so that they can leave Lahore and go back home
• Within seconds, the attack happened, which was an eye-opener for Sangakkara
• A group of terrorists attack the cricketers
• Players' reaction to the attack


  1. Lie on the floor of the bus to avoid bullets

  2. Some players get hit by bullets
• Tharanga Paranavitharana gets a bullet


  Falls unconscious
• Sangakkara feels sorry for Tharanga as it was his debut tour and he had a bad start
• Sangakkara is able to empathize with Tharanga despite the dangerous situation
• The players remain calm and composed during the attack
• There is a mixture of feelings - anger, relief and joy - in the dressing room after the attack
• The players start cracking jokes within minutes of the attack
• The attack makes the players empathize with Sri Lankans who face violence daily
• The players get over the attack quickly, both physically and mentally
• The attack brings a new dimension to the civil war and its impact on the people of Sri Lanka
• After the attack, the players remain strong and undefeated