“As long as we were in the room, the only thing propped up in our mind is how lucky we are… it had happened in a country like New Zealand which was really unexpected,” Mahmudullah said upon the Bangladesh team’s arrival at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on late Saturday (March 16) evening, following the shootout in Christchurch, which killed 49 people and injured several others.
Bangladesh players, who were about to enter one of the attacked mosques reached the place only a few minutes after fire opened and narrowly escaped. The third Test was called off and the visiting team left the country on Saturday morning.
The senior batsman, without getting into the details of the incident, said that it had left the team shocked and the players had a sleepless night having narrowly escaped from the scene of the attack. “I cannot describe what is going inside us, what we have seen,” Mahmudullah said. “The only thing I can say is that we are very lucky. With all of your prayers, our family members’ prayers, parents’ prayers now we could return here alive. This incident was very unexpected, none had expected this. I could not describe that scene. I, personally, and all of us in the team could not sleep properly.”
Nazmul Hasan, Bangladesh Cricket Board President, welcomed the players and the support staff at the airport and asked them to take some time out from cricket and spend with their families.
