A few Bangladeshi expatriates peeled the national cricket team when it arrived in Harare on Monday io play in the country's maiden Test and one-day series against Zimbabwe
Some tiny lots were seen waving placards that read Welcome Bangladesh Team' when the 15-man Bangladesh squad led by Naimur Rahman walked out of an otherwise calm airport There were also a couple of officials of Zimbabwe Cricket Union who received the team on its arrival at around 6.30pm BSI.
The cricketers were totally exhausted after a hectic 22-hour Journey hut probably heaved sigh of relief when a pleasant breeze embraced them on their way to
Crown Plaza Ilotcl, which is only 20 minutes drive from ihe tiny airport.
Harare is considered as an air-conditioned city. As the saying goes, you do not need to use an AC when you are in Harare. The temperalure during the daytime is 24 degrees Celsius, h however falls a bit at night.
Once the tired team checked in, no one showed any enthusiasm to go out of the 29-storey hotel for a stroll even. All the players spent half an hour in the swimming pool to relax their muscles as well as to get rid ofthe jet lag.
There were however little enthusiasm among the local people regarding Bangladesh's lour. "Soccer is the popular game here. But we also watch cricket a bit," said Paul, who drove this reporter to the hotel.
The Zimbabwean television did announce the arrival of Bangladesh team in its 8 O'clock news
bulletin and also had a few words with skipper Naimur Rahman, but most of ihe leading English dailies including The Daily News simply ignored.
Zimbabwe depicts a completely different picture than the South Asian nation. Ihe passion lor the game is drastically far less than that of Bangladesh and the country, three times bigger than the tourists', have a population that is ten times less. Interestingly, despite the natural beauty of Zimbabwe it is called the land of stones.
There are also a few Bangladeshi expatriates living in this part of the world. "We are only 25 people including children living in Zimbabwe”, revealed Rasheduz-zaman, the lone official representing Bangladesh since (he limbassy was closed in 1997. "Presently, there are only seven families living here."