A small yet noticeable part of the Adelaide Airport yesterday turned into a mini Bangladesh as the players, some of them with their family members, and the coaching staff gathered and mingled there on way to fly across the Tasman Sea to play their last pool match against co-hosts New Zealand in Hamilton on Friday.
When Bangladesh beat Scotland a few days back, there was a sense of relief. But when they disposed of England by 15 runs in a thriller at the Adelaide Oval yesterday, the whole nation savoured something that it can really be proud of.
It appears that two schools of thought exist in the Bangladesh cricket team regarding the fans' interest and enthusiasm.
It is no wonder why Anamul Haque is not Kumar Sangakkara. The Bangladesh opener was gifted as many chances as the Sri Lankan maestro during the two team's respective innings. However, the end result was very different. While Sangakkara made most of those early chances to score an unbeaten 76-ball 105, the Bangladesh opener huffed and puffed to 29 before being dismissed. His technique was severely tested throughout his innings, which was ended by a run-out.
The Tigers turned up at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the first time to make a statement against the Lankan Lions yesterday.
A pal of gloom replaced happiness as the otherwise cheerful Tigers on Monday tried to get over the unhappy episode of pace bowler Al-Amin Hossain that understandably upset the rhythm of the Bangladesh team in Australia.
A well-tuned Bangladesh team that arrived in Melbourne yesterday from Brisbane to play
Traditionally it has been the Indian and Pakistani fans that have best represented the sub-continent during international cricketing tournaments abroad. Be it in the West Indies, England or South Africa, fans from India and Pakistan have always managed to be the most vocal and the most visible on television.
With a morale-boosting win against Afghanistan in the bag and brilliant sunshine at the backdrop, Bangladesh team left Canberra early yesterday morning.
Around seven to eight thousand Bangladeshis live in Canberra, the capital of Australia.
Down the track and boom! Tamim Iqbal's cross-batted smack against Zaheer Khan in 2007 still remains, arguably so, the most memorable cricket shot played by a Bangladeshi batsman in the World Cup
The atmosphere and hot weather in Adelaide gave it a perfect sub-continent flair and made it feel like a home away from home.
“Right over here is William Harold Bill Ponsford, an Australian cricketer who is the only player to twice break the world record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket; Ponsford and Brian Lara are the only cricketers to twice score 400 runs in an innings,” an old man recited these words to a group of visitors as if he was reading from a book of verse.
It's an occasion the city dwellers are relishing; albeit silently. When Anges, a Malaysian born Australian, knows what awaits the city in two months time even though the sport is not popular in her birthplace, then it is symptomatic that the cricket loving people in the country are all set to make the occasion their own.
Bishwajit Roy writes from Khulna during the Test series against Zimbabwe
