Salute you tigers: Mushfiqur lauds Bangla U-19 WC stars

Mirpur : Senior Bangladesh cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim on Wednesday 'saluted' the U-19 World Cup winning team by posting a photo on social media, as frenzy reached a crescendo in the country to welcome their heroes who beat India in the final at Potchefstroom last Sunday.

"Salute you tigers," Mushfiqur posted on Instagram with a photo of his standing in front of a giant banner at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium here. Bangladesh stunned defending champions India to win their maiden U-19 World Cup riding skipper Akbar Ali's patient 43 not out off 77 balls in a tense clash.

On the day of the final, ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza had wished the team via a post on Facebook. Shakib Al Hasan also posted on Facebook to wish the team as they beat all odds to end the nation's long wait for a global title.

Akbar Ali had told IANS on Tuesday that their hardwork of two years paid off and they were confident that if they could bring their best to the table, they would beat any team.

"We have been camping together from 2018 August. We played the Asia Cup. Then we played a series in England, New Zealand. We played Sri Lanka and England at home too. The cricket board invested a lot in us and gave us a lot of exposure tours which helped immensely.

So it's good planning coupled with our execution that worked," Akbar had said.

The Rangpur-born Akbar had said before the World Cup that winning the title was always the goal and anything lesser at the tournament would have left them dissatisfied. "We had the belief in us and we were confident (before the start of the tournament) that if we can play our natural cricket, we can beat any opponent.

"The quarter-final against South Africa gave us a lot of confidence and perhaps that is where we turned a corner," said Akbar who braved the loss of his elder sister during the tournament to lift the trophy.