ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: Pakistan’s talented left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir fear the Mumbai terror attacks may end up making the entire South Asian region a pariah in international cricket.

Both Sohail and fellow player Kamran Akmal returned home early Saturday morning from Mumbai via Bahrain, insisting they were relieved to be back home after spending some terrifying moments in Mumbai.

“If things continue like this I don’t see many teams being willing to come and play in our region. There is an acute need to face this problem jointly by the affected countries,” Tanvir said.

Talking to Dawn on Saturday soon after arriving back home, Sohail narrated the Mumbai ordeal. “Before the attack I was dining with some of my friends outside the hotel and suddenly we got a call from our team manager Sushil to get back to hotel as terrorists have struck at a premier hotel in Mumbai.”

“We were truly scared and it was a nightmare for me and other fellow players as we were hardly 22km away from the terrorists attack point.”

Sohail, who was also named as the best bowler of the inaugural IPL season, added: “We were supposed to stay at the Taj Hotel on a later stage as Shane Warne was also scheduled to join us arriving from Singapore but he postponed his visit.”

“The loss of life is tragic and I will never forget the horror we faced our there” he said.

“Until now teams were avoiding Pakistan and Sri Lanka because of security situation, but now it is sad that India could also face same problems. This would be really bad for cricketers as India is the main hub of cricket in the world,” he said.

When asked about the upcoming Pakistan India cricket home series which appears in doubt due to the rising security problems on either side of the border, Sohail said: “I feel the Indians should come to Pakistan as both the countries need to resist the designs of the terrorists and make a statement through sports on the field.”