Members of the Bangladesh cricket team took some inspiration from the language movement martyrs during their visit to the resident of Bangladesh High Commissioner in Canberra on Saturday. High Commissioner Kazi Imtiaz Hossain on Saturday hosted a reception for the Tigers, who are in Canberra ahead of their February 18 World Cup opening match at the Manuka Oval at the Australian capital.
Officials said the Tigers paid respect to an under-constructed Shaheed Minar at the High Commissioner’s residence to celebrate International Mother Language Day on February 21.
Skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza and his team-mates, who will face hosts Australia on February 21 at Brisbane, celebrated the day well in advance by offering their respect before the Shaheed Minar.
High Commissioner Imtiaz in his speech promised an unwavering support for the team during their stay in Australia irrespective of result.
Bangladesh lost their all four warm-up matches in Australia, which dealt with a serious blow to the team’s morale.
Tigers’ four-wicket loss to Ireland in the final warm-up match has left a profound scar on their morale.
Imtiaz said win or loss they will support the team all the way.
He also presented a memorabilia to Mashrafee as a token gesture for their visit at his residence. Manager Khaled Mahmud returned the gesture with team’s memorabilia on behalf of the team.
The Tigers, who also had to quench the thirst of fans with autographs, had a rest day otherwise with no training scheduled, for second successive days.
They will resume the training at the Kippax Oval, Canberra today.
-With New Age input
