Wellington, Mar 5: Indian batting ace Sachin Tendulkar has expressed his shock and sadness at the attack on Sri Lankan players outside Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, terming it as a “very unfortunate” incident.

“More or less all of them are good friends. It’s very sad what has happened,” said Tendulkar as he arrived in Wellington on Wednesday to prepare for second one-dayer against New Zealand that takes place on Friday.

Tendulkar said the attacks were “very unfortunate.” But he had no qualms about returning to the subcontinent: “I’ll always feel safe in my homeland.”

Six Sri Lankan players were injured and eight other people were killed when gunmen with rocket launchers and grenades ambushed the team bus and other vehicles in a convoy near the test cricket ground in Lahore.

The attack has placed future tours to Pakistan in doubt, The Dominion Post reports.

The Indian team was relaxed as they boarded their bus. There was no sign of extra security as requested by the team management.

Extra precautions are being taken for the Westpac Stadium game. These were signalled after a bottle-throwing incident at the same stadium during a Twenty20 game on last Friday.

Meanwhile, spinner Harbhajan Singh said he had texted friends in the Sri Lankan team. “They’ve all said they are fine.”

The Indian team felt safe in New Zealand. “It is probably the safest place to tour and play cricket in the world,” he added.(ANI)