NOTTINGHAM, England, (Reuters) – Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has urged his team to show “mental strength and fortitude” at the Twenty20 World Cup after the trauma of Lahore this year when the team bus was attacked by armed militants.
“Since Lahore we have accepted there is never a 100 percent guarantee — that’s the way life is,” Sangakkara told reporters after his team’s warmup match against Bangladesh on Tuesday.
“We’ve got to have the mental strength and fortitude to get on with our business of playing cricket.
“With all teams in the current world climate, not just us, security is going to be an issue, in some countries more so than others maybe. But still worldwide there is a threat so our mental comfort depends on certain things being put in place for us and so far we have been very satisfied.”
Six members of the Sri Lanka team, including Sangakkara, were wounded after gunmen shot at their team bus en route to the Gaddafi Stadium for the second test against Pakistan in March. Six Pakistani policemen and the driver of the bus carrying the match officials were killed. The Sri Lanka team are liaising daily with a national police intelligence cell set up to oversee security for the World Cup in England.
World Twenty20 tournament director and former South Africa player Steve Elworthy, 44, held the same role at the 2007 World Twenty20 in South Africa. He said security had become much tighter since Lahore.
