( CNN ) -- Sri Lankan cricketers have described for the first time how they feared some of their teammates had been killed during a deadly attack on the team bus by gunmen in Pakistan -- and paid tribute to the driver of the bus for saving their lives . Thilan Samaraweera is due to undergo surgery to have a bullet removed from his leg . Six police officers and a driver were killed in the ambush by around a dozen attackers armed with automatic weapons as the players made their way to Lahore 's cricket stadium early Tuesday . Two players , Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Samaraweera , suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and leg respectively while six others suffered shrapnel wounds . But vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara told CNN he believed Paranavitana had been killed when he collapsed after being shot . `` I was lying on the ground . I heard Thilan ( Samaraweera ) groan and I heard Tharanga Paranavitana say something . I turned around and a bullet whizzed past my head and hit the seat in front of me . And then I got hit in the shoulder by shrapnel , '' Sangakkara said . `` Then I saw Tharanga Paranavitana get up and say ' I 've been shot ' and then he collapsed on the seat . I really thought he was seriously hurt or even dead . '' Read profiles of the wounded players » . Describing the initial moments of the ambush , Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss said there had been an explosion `` which someone said later was a rocket launcher that missed the bus and went over the top and hit somewhere in front of us . '' Watch footage of the gunmen staging their attack » . He said two cars then pulled up in front of the convoy , blocking its path . Gunmen jumped out of the cars and started firing , sending bullets ripping through the bus . `` By that stage everyone was on the ground , '' Baylis told CNN . `` Surprisingly it was very calm . There was not a lot we could do except keep low as possible and hope for the best . Every now and then someone would just yell out and say ' I 'm hit . ' '' Watch Bayliss talk about his experience » . Sangakkara said someone at the front of the bus had shouted to the players to take cover . `` Some of the guys looked up to see what was going on because the bus just swerved a bit and almost came to a stop , '' he said . `` Suddenly we heard a couple of explosions getting closer . And then someone from the front of the bus shouted 'They 're shooting at the bus -- get down ! ' That 's when we just hit the deck and suddenly we heard bullets thudding into the bus . It kept going for about a minute . '' Watch Sangakkara describe how players ducked for cover » . A Pakistani security official on the bus then shouted to the driver in Urdu to `` go , go go ! '' Sangakkara said . `` I think we owe our lives to him -- he just put the bus in gear and drove straight through the carnage straight to the ground , '' he said . `` They tried to shoot the bus driver first and missed and the guy had the presence of mind to do what was needed to save all our lives . '' Baylis also praised the driver of the bus for his bravery . `` He jumped back in his seat with all the bullets coming through the bus and he got us into the stadium . It was n't until we got into the stadium that we could see how hurt some of the players were , '' Baylis said . Once inside the stadium the players received medical attention . `` Everyone still seemed confused and shocked but the mood was quite upbeat , '' said Sangakkara . `` A few jokes were being cracked , people were talking to each other , making sure everyone was ok , everyone made a great effort to keep the mood lighter than it could have been in that situation and that 's helped a lot of the guys to get through it . '' Sangakkara said he 'd had some of the shrapnel removed from his shoulder inside the stadium . He also underwent surgery to remove some more after arriving home in Colombo earlier Wednesday . Paranavitana and Samaraweera are also expected to undergo surgery . Samaraweera still had a bullet in his leg , Sangakkara said . Meanwhile match referee Chris Broad criticized Pakistan 's security forces for their conduct during the attack , claiming they had abandoned match officials traveling in the convoys as `` sitting ducks . '' The Englishman and other officials had been traveling in a minibus behind the Sri Lankan team bus when bullets ripped through the vehicle , killing the driver and critically wounding fourth umpire Ahsan Reza . Broad has been hailed as a hero for reportedly shielded Reza but he played down his bravery . `` I 'm not a hero . Ahsan Raza took a bullet to the stomach or chest -- somewhere in the spleen and lung region . I was lying behind him on the floor of the van and there were bullets flying all around us , '' Broad said . `` I only noticed he was injured when I saw a large pool of blood had spilled on to the floor and out of the partially opened van door . '' Broad said police vans detailed to protect the vehicles in the convoy had apparently disappeared during the attack . `` I am extremely angry that we were promised high-level security and in our hour of need that security vanished and they left us to be sitting ducks . I am extremely fortunate to be here today . ''
Tharanga Paranavitana vice-captain feared teammate had been fatally wounded . Driver praised for getting bus to stadium as bullets ripped through vehicle . Attack in Sri Lanka killed driver , 8 Sri Lankan police , injured 6 Sri Lankan cricket players . Match referee : Security forces left players , match officials to be `` sitting ducks ''