Dhaka – Bangladeshi cricketers who narrowly avoided the terrorist attack on one of the two mosques in New Zealand are expected to arrive in Dhaka on Saturday night.

The team members who wanted to attend the Friday prayers at al Noor mosque in central Christchurch, nearby their practice ground, but warned by a woman that there was shooting inside when they were poised to get into the mosque.

The national team, however, managed to returned to home safe and managed urgent tickets to get back to home.

Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman Rabeed Imam said the team is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka at around 10.30 pm by a Singapore Airlines flight.

Shooting by a gunman in two mosques during the Friday prayers left at least 49 people killed and dozens others injured. Three of the dead are of Bangladeshi origin lived in New Zealand.    

Bangladeshi batsman Tamim Iqbal in a tweet after the rampage said the entire team was safe.

“Entire team got saved from active shooters!!! Frightening experience and please keep us in your prayers,” he wrote on Twitter.

BCB President Nazmul Hassan expressed disappointment over the security arrangement by the New Zealand authorities for the visiting players saying that the security provided for the team not enough.

“We did not get much security. The police needed much time to reach the scene. It is surprising. I don’t think we might have needed such time had there been any incident like this in Bangladesh. They might have been unprepared. We must be more careful in future,” said the BCB boss.

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