Some Bangladesh players opt to stay back in England despite team's exit

Team Bangladesh were having a fairy tale time in the Champions Trophy this year. Their stupendous win over New Zealand in their last league game saw them make it to the semi-final of the tournament. This was the first time in the history of the game when they had made it to the semis of an ICC major event. Their dream run ended when they lost to India in the second semi-final.

The Bangla tigers returned back home and arrived in Dhaka a day after their exit from the tournament. Surprisingly, not all players of team Bangladesh got back home with the team. The team landed at Dhaka on Saturday at 9.40 am. The four players who did not arrive in the country were Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim and Imrul Kayes.

As per the reports in bdcrictime.com, these four players are scheduled to head back a little late. Shakib Al Hasan had reportedly opted to return to Bangladesh with a different flight and had arrived later in the afternoon. The other three players of the team – Mamudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Imrul Kayes have decided to spend some time with their families in England.

They are expected to head back home before Eid. In the recent times, it has been a long tour for the team. Prior to the ICC Champions Trophy, the team had toured Ireland for the tri-series which had team New Zealand as the third team in the series. In that series as well, the Bangladesh team had outstaged the New Zealand team in the final fixture. The superlative historic win had helped the team enter the mega ICC event as the number 6 ranked ODI side.

Times ahead

Now, the team will be gearing up for other international assignments which include Test series against Australia in August. Meanwhile, there have been reports of players like Tamim Iqbal joining teams for the Natwest T20 Blast as well.