Bangladesh players relieved to be back home after NZ attack

Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim (centre) on arrival in Dhaka on Saturday. Pic/AFP

The Bangladesh cricket team arrived home in Dhaka on Saturday, a day after narrowly escaping the mosque attack that killed 49 people in New Zealand. At least 17 members of the Bangladesh cricket team drove up to Christchurch's Masjid al Noor mosque in a bus to join Friday prayers when a gunman stormed the building, in what is thought to be the worst act of terror directed against Muslims in a Western country.

The team arrived at Dhaka airport late on Saturday. "The only thing I can say that we are lucky," skipper Mahmudllah Riyad told reporters on arrival. "With all of your prayers we could return here alive. I cannot describe what is going inside us, what we have seen," he added.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates