(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 » 
Who did he think was killed?
But vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara told CNN he believed Paranavitana had been killed 