Bipin Dani, in Pakistan Observer … https://pakobserver.net/pak-umpire-wins-heart-sri-lankan-skipper/
The 43-year-old Pakistani umpire Ahsan Raza has all praise for the Sri Lankan captain Thisara Perera. Before taking the field in the the last T-20 match between the two nations in Lahore on Sunday, Ahsan Raza became emotional and had tears in his eyes when Thisara Perera consoled him.
“Well my brother (Ahsan Raza) is true Pakistani patriot and when National Anthem was played he could not hide his emotions and tears started coming from his eyes because whole incident start moving in his eyes frame by frame”, umpire’s brother, Ali Raza, speaking exclusively over his mobile from Pakistan, said. “When Thisara Perera saw tears in his eyes, he said while tapping his shoulders. .that I can understand your feelings and you are very brave man and all foreign players and officials are satisfied with the security Pakistan law enforcement agencies provided”.
“I rate Sri Lankan captain’s sportsman spirit very high and give 10/10 marks”.
In reply my brother said, ..my faith inAllah has strengthened more..tears just came because same venue, same place and same teams are again going to face each other. In 2009 I was fourth umpire but this time time has turned around and now I am officiating match between both opponents as one of the on-field umpires”.
Ahsan Raza said, “when fire ruptured my lungs and liver I recited kalma perhaps I may not be able to survive but miracle do happens and it strengthened my faith on Allah more”. Not only the Pak umpire became emotional but the fans too became excited. One Pakistani fan, Waqar Khan, a government employee, sang the National Anthem of Sri Lanka.
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ALSO NOTE
Very impressed with security arrangements in Lahore – Thisara Perera, October 26, 2017 02:41 pm
Sri Lanka and Pakistan play a three-match T20I series starting on Thursday. While the first two matches will be played in the UAE, the third is slated to be played in Lahore. This will hence make it the first international game to be played in Pakistan since 2009. But 40 Sri Lankan players signed a letter stating their reluctance to play in the country. Captain Upul Tharanga also stated that he will pull out of the third T20I after because of not being “mentally prepared” to play in Lahore. Tharanga may not have been in Lahore when the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked during a Test match but he was part of the squad that played in the ODI series prior to it.
Perera was appointed as captain after it was made clear that Tharanga will have to sit out the entire series of he won’t play the third match. The former said that being handed the captaincy is a “huge honour” for him. “It’s a new challenge as well and I am looking forward to the opportunity,” he said.
Away from the chatter about the Lahore match, Sri Lanka have plenty of worries of their own. They may have recorded a rare away Test series win earlier in the month against Pakistan but were thrashed 5-0 in the recently concluded ODI rubber. “Every team goes through tough times,” said Perera, “It is part and parcel of cricket. As captain I have given the players confidence and told them not to be selfish but to give all what they’ve got for the team. The selectors also have echoed same sentiments. There are some very good talents in this team. Hopefully we will do something special in this series. We will challenge Pakistan. We have told everyone to play without fear of failure. It doesn’t matter if you fail after giving 100 percent. Everyone knows this is a good opportunity and if someone does well, that will be a huge moment in his career.”
– The Indian Express