They may have been defeated in the quarterfinal but Bangladesh could still hold their heads high for the most successful World Cup campaign, with fans welcoming them like heroes.
Thousands of fans thronged the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport when Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s team arrived at 7:30pm on Sunday.
The Tigers achieved their goal of reaching the knockout stage in the showcase event beating Afghanistan, Scotland and England and sharing points with co-hosts Australia in a washed-out tie on their way.
They lost the quarterfinal against reigning champions India thanks to some controversial umpiring decisions.
Had Rohit Sharma not got a shocking no-ball reprieve when on 90, it would have been a different story.
Only a handful would have put their money on the Tigers in mid-2014 after they crashed out of Asia Cup, Twenty20 World Cup with defeats against the Associates Afghans and Hong Kong.
After their rout of Zimbabwe in Tests and ODIs alike, the Tigers earned back their fans’ respect.
Although they lost all four warmups in Australia, they defeated Afghanistan and Scotland comprehensively and knocked out England in a historic win at Adelaide.
They gave co-hosts New Zealand a run for their money and were well prepared for a showdown against the defending champions.
Mashrafe and Co were doing quite well when a controversial height no-ball decision by on-field umpires broke the Tigers psychologically and they were beaten by 109 runs.
Despite not being able to progress to the semis, they won the hearts of millions of cricket fans.
Source: bdnews24