Bangladesh cricketer Mashrafe Mortaza was in Chennai recently, and he seems to have made the most of his trip. While the primary purpose of his visit was to get treatment for a health condition, he took time out to check out most of the tourist spots in the city. What’s more, he even visited Amir Mahal, the official residence of the Prince of Arcot, and also spent time on the cricket ground there, where matches were on!
Mashrafe tells us, “This wasn’t my first trip to Chennai. I had played the Afro- Asia Cup in the city. I was also here at the MRF camp in 2001, when TA Sekhar sir was there and Dennis Lillee was the coach. This time around, I was here for six days; I’d hurt my back and I came here for treatment. The Dhaka Premier League is going on; so, I came to check with a few doctors here to see how I was doing.”
Remind him of the time when he stunned India in the World Cup (2007) by bagging four wickets, and he says, “It’s a great memory. India has been one of the best teams in the world. I still remember that match. And then, we beat India at home 2-1 when Dhoni was the captain. It was a big turning point for Bangladesh in cricket at that time.”
So, what did Mashrafe do in Chennai this time? “I tried different food, but stuck to Bangladeshi food mostly,” laughs the cricketer, who was here with his family. Speaking about the time he spent at Amir Mahal, he says, “It was a great experience. Thanks to Asif bhai (Nawabzada Mohammed Asif Ali, Dewan to the Prince of Arcot) and his family.”
Abdul Ekram, who’s been friends with Mashrafe for 20 years, hosted the cricketer in Chennai. “I accompanied him and his family to a couple of tourist places along the coast on ECR. We also went to a few places where they served authentic north Indian and south Indian food; they loved dosa, pani puri, dahi puri and all that. We also visited the Centre for Sports Science in the city. And he was impressed with all the facilities there. A lot of people here admire him and wanted to take pics with him wherever we went,” he says.
Nawabzada Mohammed Asif Ali tells us, “Abdul Ekram and I are good friends. He was the one who told me about Mashrafe’s visit to Chennai, and about Amir Mahal, the family and its history to him. And it seems, Mashrafe was very excited about visiting Amir Mahal. We hosted him and his family for lunch on March 12. We served mutton biryani and a few other traditional dishes that day.”
Interestingly, The Prince of Arcot Cricket Tournament and the India veterans series were going on at the Amir Mahal ground on that day. He adds, “After lunch, we walked to the ground, and I introduced the different clubs and players to him. And all of them seemed to be big admirers of Mashrafe. We also chatted about cricket and how the sport brought people together. In fact, he was talking about Indian players and how they bond with Bangladeshi players off the field.”
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