COLOMBO: Sri Lankan cricketer Thilan Samaraweera has been discharged from hospital, two weeks after he suffered a bullet wound when the team came under attack in Pakistan, his manager said on Thursday.
Doctors at the privately run Nawaloka hospital removed a bullet from Samaraweera's left leg after the team was flown home from the Pakistani city of Lahore.
"He has started physiotherapy and should hopefully resume training towards the end of April," his manager Charlie Austin said.
Doctor Geethanjana Mendis, who heads the sports ministry medical unit, said Samaraweera's leg was still heavily plastered as he is yet to fully recover from the most serious injury, to his hamstring.
Seven Sri Lankan players and their British assistant coach were injured when the team bus came under gun and grenade attack as they drove to the Gaddafi Stadium during the second Test match.
Eight Pakistanis were killed in the attack on March 3.
Samaraweera, 32, the worst-affected player, feared for his cricketing future immediately after the attack.
"The bullet had gone through the muscle and not hit the bone or the knee," he told a cricket website after leaving the hospital.
"I thought my career was over, but a professor who saw my X-rays and scans said: 'You are a lucky man. Don't worry, you will play again.'"
Samaraweera said he was looking forward to play against Pakistan when they tour Sri Lanka in July, but said security had now become a major concern in the cricket world.
"The world over, we need to improve security. This incident has been a real eye-opener," he said.