"It was horrifying. We were extremely lucky because our players were getting into the mosque when they heard gunshots. Had we reached a minute earlier, the players would have been inside the mosque," he added
At least one Indian was an eye witness to yesterday's terror attack in New Zealand following which the third Test against Bangladesh and the tour has been called off. Chennai-based video analyst, Shrinivas Chandrasekaran is part of the support staff of the Bangladesh cricket team, which was about to enter one of the two Christchurch mosques, where a gunman shot and killed at least 49 people attending Friday prayers.
"I was sitting inside our team bus. The plan was to head to the ground, which is located just behind the mosque, for a 3pm practice session after the prayers," Chandrasekaran told mid-day over the phone from Christchurch yesterday. The terror attack took place at around 1:30pm. "It was horrifying. We were extremely lucky because our players were getting into the mosque when they heard gunshots. Had we reached a minute earlier, the players would have been inside the mosque," he added.
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Shrinivas Chandrasekaran
"We were asked to lie down in the bus for a while before we were taken to the stadium and after sometime, to our hotel. I'm not sure if the players were targeted as was the case in Lahore [in 2009 when the Sri Lankan team was targeted] but I feel very bad as people were running around crying for help and there was blood everywhere. The players are in a state of shock. The team will leave for Dhaka by the earliest possible flight," said the video analyst.
Chandrasekaran will return to India via Dhaka and join India Premier League side Hyderabad Sunrisers. Meanwhile, the other Indian support staff member of the Bangladesh team, spin bowling coach Sunil Joshi, was not in the bus during the attack as he decided to reach the ground early.
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