Herschelle Gibbs refuses to play in Pakistan after terrorist attack in Karachi

Herschelle Gibbs

Pakistan Cricket suffered another crucial blow when former South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs refused to tour Pakistan after the airport attack in Karachi on Sunday.

Along with Herschelle Gibbs, New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram had already given their nod to feature in a T20 tournament organized by former Pakistan wicketkeeper Moin Khan after they were sent an invitation by Nadeem Omar, a leading cricket entrepreneur to play for his team Omar Associates.

"We had contacted them through their agent, Imran Shahid and they were very keen to come for the event. But now their agent has said they have been advised against travelling to Karachi," Omar said.

"But in Gibbs and Oram's case we were very confident they would come and even now we are trying to convince them they can come and play safely in Karachi," he added.

The attack comes during a time when Pakistan Cricket is trying to revamp its image of a safe to tour country. Pakistan Cricket suffered a loss of prestige when a touring Sri Lankan team was attacked by militants in March 2009 where a couple of Sri Lankan players got wounded.

Since then, Pakistan has not hosted a single tournament. PCB recently had sent a letter to Sri Lankan Cricket Board initing them for a short tour to Pakistan.

Karachi was rocked when Pakistan’s busiest airport was attacked by terrorists who allegedly belonged to Taliban. The attack and siege continued for six hours before security forces managed to kill the 10 terrorists. 18 people including a security official were killed and 14 were injured.