Bangladesh Cricket Board focus on trauma management
Bangladesh. -BCB
||CF Correspondent||
Cricket takes a back seat as trauma-management of terror-struck Bangladesh cricket team remains at the top of Bangladesh Cricket Board priority list at present.
Bangladesh team returned home a day after narrowly escaping Friday’s shooting in a New Zealand mosque and it was visible in the airport that they were shaken-up badly as none of them looked to be carrying the self-composure that they usually do.
Since the arrival of the Bangladesh squad through a Singapore Airlines flight at the Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport at 10:40 pm on Saturday it was apparent that BCB decided to approach them very cautiously as the players need to move on from the dreadful incident in Christchurch where they survived close shaves.
Watching the bloodshed in live, the players were such traumatic state that they were not ready to stay at a single moment in New Zealand and BCB, fortunately, managed to get them the first available flight to bring them back at home, much to the relief of the players and their family.
BCB president Nazmul Hassan immediately announced that players don’t need to concentrate on cricket at present and were asked to go back to their family and stay with them in order to regain their mental stability.
BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury added that they have advised the cricketers not to think too much about the incident while there are no hard and fast rules that cricketers need to play in Dhaka Premier League that was initially planned for everyone apart from Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim.
“Apart from Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim, all of the players were set to play the ongoing Dhaka Premier League (DPL) but it was not now mandatory for them,” Nizamuddin told reporters on Saturday.
“The president advised them to not to think about cricket now and stay with their family. As he said that the board will co-operate them in bringing back to the normal life, we have allowed them to decide when they will back to the cricket,” he said.
“At the moment, we don’t want them to talk to anybody else with the incident what happened in Christchurch. They are advised to be with their family and their family is advised to help them get out of the trauma,’’ he said.
Nizamuddin added that they will help the cricketers with counselling if required but for the moment that is not at the top of their agenda. “As I said earlier, they need rest at the moment. We don’t want to talk to them about this matter. And they are also advised not to talk with this issue,’’ said Nizamuddin.
“Whether they need any counselling or any other thing, will be decided by the board and the team management,” he said. The announcement of BCB chief executive came a day after Bangladesh’s stand-in skipper told the media at the airport that they are lucky to return back home alive.
“I cannot describe what is going inside us, what we have seen,’’ stand-in skipper Mahmudullah told reporters upon arrival. “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. Actually, this incident was very unexpected, none had expected this. I could not describe that scene. I am personally, and all of us in the team could not sleep properly [at night],’’ he said.
“As long as we were in the room the only thing propped up in our mind is that how lucky we are...it had happened in a country like New Zealand which was really unexpected,” he said. Mahmudullah, who did not take any question, also thanked the Bangladesh Cricket Board and New Zealand Cricket for making quick arrangement to help them return home quickly.
At least 17 members of the Bangladesh cricket team drove up to the Masjid al Noor in a bus to join Friday prayers when the mosque came under attack by a gunman. Bangladesh cricket team was in Christchurch for their third and final Test of a three-match series, which was scheduled to begin on Saturday.
The Test was promptly cancelled and the Bangladesh Cricket Board and New Zealand authorities arranged for the team to leave the country at the earliest possible time. At least 49 people died in attacks on two mosques in the city of Christchurch during Friday prayers, in what appeared to be the worst act of terror against Muslims in a Western country.
The attack sent a shiver of chill in Bangladesh as the authorities had complained that the players were not provided with any security when they headed for the mosques. Earlier, Australia cricket team cancelled a tour in Bangladesh in 2015 citing lack of security while Australia Under-19 cricket team skipped ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2016 on the same ground. Bangladesh had to ensure statesmanlike security for the England cricket team to undertake a visit in 2016.
