Sri Lankans thankful to be home

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The team bus was on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium for the third day of the second Test against Pakistan when it came under attack by unidentified gunmen. Several Sri Lanka cricketers were injured, none of them seriously, but six policemen and two civilians died in the attack.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, who suffered a minor ankle injury, said: "I'm just very happy to be able to see my family again to come back to Sri Lanka in one piece."

The players were airlifted out of the stadium by an army helicopter to the Lahore Airport and returned to Sri Lanka by a specially chartered flight from Abu Dhabi.

"Every breath I take, I'm glad I can take it without a problem. When you experience an incident like this, your whole life flashes in front of you in a moment," Jayawardene added.

"I don't think any of us expected to get out of this alive. We were very lucky no one actually suffered any serious or life-threatening injuries.

"Everyone is in good shape. There are a few guys who need more time to recover. Hopefully we can put this behind us and move forward."

Jayawardene said their experiences with terrorism back home, where a conflict is raging with Tamil rebels, had helped them survive the ordeal.

"We are used to hearing, seeing these things - firing, bombings. So we got onto the floor of the bus when the firing began. It was like natural instinct," he added.

"In hindsight, this could have happened anywhere in the world. 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."