While New Zealand faced a black day in the history of the country on Friday, 15 March, Bangladesh Cricket Team, who were there for the third and final Test against the Black Caps, is in deep shock after narrowly escaping deadly mosque attacks in Christchurch.

In the inhumane Christchurch Mosque shooting incident,  at least 49 people lost their lives in the worst attack against the Muslims in New Zealand.

Incidentally, Bangladeshi players and support staff had also arrived at the Masjid al Noor mosque in Christchurch for Friday prayers when they were warned not to go inside as the shooting unfolded.

While the Bangladesh team is still reeling from the shock of a narrow escape in Christchurch, Tamim Iqbal could not believe he had just witnessed a terror attack from such close quarters, as the team bus was barely meters away from the mosque targeted by an Australian terrorist.

Hours later the incident, Tamim told Sportstar, “I don’t know what to say. We are all in deep shock. But now, everybody is in the hotel and all of us are safe.”

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Team performance analyst, Shrinivas Chandrasekaran, called it a terrifying experience, recalling: “There were 18 of us and it was a terrifying experience because none of us have seen something like this before. We did not know what was going around and also how to get out of the scene for a moment, the mind did freeze. You did not know how to react and what’s to be done. We could see people running out and saying that there is firing going on.”

Shrinivas continued, “We were stuck for nearly ten minutes when the shooting was happening inside. We could not move the vehicle because that would take the bus closer to the mosque and chances were high that we could be in trouble. The target was just 10-metres away. The players used the bus and the other parked vehicles as our cover and then slowly walked towards the entrance. It was a huge risk but there is nothing else we could have done. We had to save ourselves.”

He also said that delay in the team’s pre-match media conference saved their lives in the deadly attack as it was raining in Christchurch since morning and the team had an optional practice session.

Shrinivas signed off by saying, “Thankfully, the pre-match media conference was delayed by five minutes and that actually saved us. The training session was anyway canceled and we were trying to return to the hotel, but then, all this happened. After that, we went back to the ground.”

(With Sportstar Inputs)