Tigers home

The Tigers received a heroes' welcome when they arrived in Dhaka yesterday after a satisfying World Cup campaign down under.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's men, who made it to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time, found it tough to make their way out of the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, which turned into a hub of Tigers fans well before the plane carrying the Bangladesh team landed 30 minutes behind its scheduled arrival at 7.30pm.

BCB director and media committee chairman Jalal Younis welcomed the players at the VVIP lounge with a bouquet of flowers and plenty of sweets.

"The best thing about the team was that we believed in ourselves. We actually believed that we could go through to the semifinals despite the defeat. Our players played very well. If I have to select the player-of-the-tournament for us it would be a tie between Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad," captain Mashrafe said in a crowded press briefing at the airport.

The players left the airport under tight security. The fans waiting outside cheered every vehicle carrying the players passing by them.

The Tigers' next assignment is a full series against fellow World Cup quarterfinalists Pakistan at home from mid-April.