15 April 1997 Dhaka's effusive welcome to victorious team By Hasan Saeed DHAKA, April 14: The nation today celebrated the Bangla new year, 1404, coinciding with a riotous mass reception to its cricket heroes who clinched the 6th ICC Trophy. "Sabash Bangladesh," shouted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed climbing the podium erected for the reception in the morning. Today I am presenting you the greatest gift of the new year - our heroes w the new tigers of Bengal, said an overjoyed Hasina who brought along with her the victorious cricketers before the human sea at the historic Manik Mia Avenue. Thousands of people gathered at the historic venue and saluted the heroes shouting "Bangladesh, Bangladesh... Akram... Greenidge." "It's my pleasure to be present in an extravaganza. Ladies and gentlemen this success is yours," said the legendary West Indies cricketer Gordon Greenidge when thousands of people gave a standing ovation recognising his great contribution to Bangladesh's success. The crowd cheered with the gesture of skipper Akram Khan when he said, "This is the victory of 12 crore people and I am dedicating the triumph to the memory of martyrs of the liberation war." The Prime Minister received the national cricketers at the Zia International Airport earlier in the morning and took breakfast with them at her official residence before going to the mass reception with them. The cricket heroes, who snatched the ICC trophy on Sunday in a dramatic final against Kenya, were flown in from the Malaysian capital by a special flight of Biman. The Prime Minister handed over cheques of Tk500,000 to each of the team members. Dr Jawad Khan and umpire Shaheen, who also accompanied the team, received cheques of TK300,000 each from her. Hasina also announced some donations and gifts to be given by various ministries and organisations to the cricketers and for the development of cricket. She said a directive has been given to construct stadium, exclusively for cricket, alongside the Tongi diversion road at Maghbazar. Donations of Tk10 lakh each were announced by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industries for the development of cricket in the country. Source:: Dawn (http://xiber.com/dawn/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)