Dhaka, Mar 17 — Bangladesh team has returned to Bangladesh after an unexpected end of New Zealand tour. Mahmudullah Riyad, the Bangladesh Test captain during the absence of Shakib Al Hasan, said upon the return to the country that they were lucky enough to escape the attack in a mosque of Christchurch in New Zealand.
Bangladesh team reached the country at 10:45 (BST) on Saturday night. Hundreds of the media workers were present at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at that time.
‘When we were in the room after coming back from the spot of attack, we were thinking how lucky we were,’ Mahmudullah said while making a short statement to the media at the airport.
“I want to thank Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and Papon Bhai (Nazmul Hasan, BCB president) for bringing us back home at the earliest. At the same time, I want to ask the nation to pray for us so we can get rid of this memory,” Mahmudullah said.
Within hours of the attack, BCB and New Zealand cricket called the third and last Test of the series off following a joint discussion. And at the same time, BCB decided to bring the team back home as early as possible.
Nazmul, the BCB president, was present at the airport along with Mahbub Anam, BCB vice-president, and Jalal Yunus- the chairman of BCB media committee.
“The team went through a tough situation. Right after the shootings, we talked to them, all of us were waiting for their coming home,” Nazmul said to the media.
“A moment before, Riyad said to me that they had a sleepless night. So it was a journey of 22 hours for them. All of them are tired. Some of them are mentally broken. So here is nothing more to talk to them. I said to them to go home and spend some days on their own,” Nazmul also said.
“I suggested to them not to think about the game right now. They should spend time with their families at this point. If anyone needs any help we are here always to do so,” BCB president added while talking to the media at the airport.
The Bangladesh Cricket team went on a tour of New Zealand to play three-match ODI and Test series. The last match of Test series was supposed to start on March 16. However, due to the situation arising out of the shootings, the last Test was cancelled. BCB chief executive officer, Nizamuddin Chowdhury, has said to the media that they will discuss with New Zealand cricket authorities about the cancelled Test.
“Our main priority after the attack was to bring our national team back home safely. So we did not find a situation to talk about something else. We will discuss the future of the cancelled Test later,” Nizamuddin said to the media. – UNB
