Dejected Tigers leave England

Down and out from the ICC World Twenty20, a dejected Bangladesh cricket team left England on Tuesday without their skipper Mohammad Ashraful and coach Jamie Siddons.
The International Cricket Council did not want to spend any extra penny for them and asked the team to pack their bags to catch the next available flight after Ireland ensured their exit with a six-wicket win in the last group game.
‘It was like a kicking in the back,’ lamented manager Shafiqul Haque, who had a busy night in confirming the tickets for the players, the wife of a player and dozens of their luggage.
They left Nottingham for London at dawn and caught their flight through Gatwick International airport in the afternoon. The team is expected to land at the Zia International Airport at 8:30am today.
Skipper Mohammad Ashraful and all-rounder Sakib al Hasan did not board into the flight as they opted to stay in London for a few more days for treatment. Sakib had a pre-appointment with a doctor but Ashraful surprisingly informed the team management that he needs to visit an eye specialist.
The middle-order batsman said, he has myopic problem and might need a surgery. He is expected to fly home on June 15. Sakib will leave England on June 11. Team physio Michael Henry also stayed in London to accompany them.
The chances for coach Jamie Siddons to travel to Bangladesh before the team departs for West Indies on June 30 depends on the condition of his girlfriend Kim, who is expected to give birth of their first child next week.
Siddons, soon-to-be-father for the first time, flew to Australia to be on her side, said he will return to Bangladesh only if she does not have any complicacy, otherwise, he will join the team in the West Indies.
Siddons was, however, little excited before he bade his charges bye as there was no smile in any of the faces. The sorrow and grief had darkened everyone’s face and Siddons was not an exception. It was a double blow for him as he saw some of his countrymen also leaving the hotel at the same time.
Australia became the biggest causality of the tournament when they lost to Sri Lanka in the following game and for Siddons it was sad to see them is such an awkward position as he was a part of the team only a couple of years ago.
‘I don’t feel for Australia as hard as I feel for Bangladesh now. I am very frustrated for the boys who worked so hard here but did not get the result they deserve. They should have won the game but they themselves let them down,’ said Siddons.
‘We needed to be aggressive, but we did not want to leave anything behind,’ said Siddons adding that the plan for the team to score at least 160 runs, which could have won them the game.
‘We batted pretty fast, pretty hard. But we came only close to 140 runs which was not enough. May be 160 would have done it. We should have tried for it, though it was not easy. Australia did not get it yesterday (Monday),’ he said.

Courtesy of NewAgebd