Following the arrival of the ICC World Cup trophy in Dhaka for a duration of two days, Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim underwent a photo session with the three-columned cup at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium yesterday where he expressed hope that his country will one day lift the glittering trophy which has a golden globe at the top.
“It is totally a different feeling as this is the first time I have touched it and saw it closely. Truly it is magnificent. It is a huge cup and also the cup of pride. Honestly I feel great. I hope that one day Bangladesh can touch this cup and I dream and desire for this. Our generation is trying to do so and I hope that I would be able to do it,” said Mushfiq.
The Bangladesh skipper added that the cricket team are trying extremely hard to do well before admitting that they are perhaps not playing to their potential at the moment.
“There is no doubt that Bangladesh have a lot of cricket crazy fans and we have a lot of well-wishers and from that point of view, we are not playing good cricket but we are trying to do well,” he added.
The World Cup trophy, first introduced in the 1999 edition hosted by England, was brought to the home of cricket, Mirpur, yesterday morning. Mushfiq and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury posed for a photo session before it was taken to the Prime Minister’s office.
The trophy was later taken to the Bashundhara shopping mall at Panthapath for display from 12pm-8pm. However, the visiting hours of the general people with the trophy was cut down by two hours as the security officials were having a tough time coping with the ever-increasing gathering. The trophy’s display was finally called off at 6pm.
“We have been struggling to manage the huge crowd right from the start. Taking the security of the trophy into consideration, we have decided to finish the display a bit earlier than scheduled,” said a BCB security official.
Despite the limited time, the trophy’s display at the shopping mall, however, failed to diminish the excitement and enthusiasm among the general people. A huge number of people started to form a line in order to have a glimpse and take a picture of the World Cup.
The added thrill among the visitors was the presence of national cricketers Taskin Ahmed, Marshal Ayub and Shamsur Rahman Shuvo at the shopping mall.
Farhana Hossain Shoma, a banker residing at Lalbagh, went to the mall for her Eid shopping. She was pleasantly surprised to see the World Cup trophy on display and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. As she is a huge fan of the Bangladesh cricket team, she did not miss the chance to take a picture with the trophy.
“Honestly I had no idea about the display as I came here for my shopping but it was a great opportunity for me to take a selfie with the World Cup as I always watched it only on television. It was amazing,” she said.
The ICC World Cup trophy will be leaving Dhaka today for Dubai as part of its visit to 12 countries that will participate in next year’s tournament alongside co-hosts Australia and New Zealand. Following the trophy’s round-the-world visit, it will finally arrive down under on November 6 before the 11th edition of the World Cup gets underway on February 14 with the final slated for March 29.