Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar and all his colleagues were excited with the practice facilities in the city and were also thrilled after their first experience at the beautiful Mohali Stadium and its indoor facilities.

"It's absolutely fantastic. What a beautiful stadium (Mohali) it is. I played at the Eden Gardens (in Kolkata) but I must say the ground here is totally different," said excited Faruque Ahmed.

The Punjab Cricket Association Stadium at Mohali is truly a fantastic venue with excellent practice facilities with ten lively practice pitches outside the ground and spectator-friendly outlook and it's already dubbed as best stadium in India.

"We are pleased to see this much of facilities provided to the cricketers. I cannot believe that there are almost 17 pitches in our practice match venue," said captain Habibul Bashar.

"It is specially refreshing for us to practice at such a good ground. And I think you can understand why," he added.

"Is it impossible for our board to prepare its own ground like Chandigarh Stadium where cricketers can enjoy their training sessions? They can take lesson from here," said a senior cricketer citing not to mention his name.

AWOL, CHAPMAN
Paul Chapman is enjoying a vacation while the Tigers are featuring in an important tournament, and on top of that -- on a tour.

It was learned that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has not fired the fitness training coach.

Funnily, BCB accepted his condition while they contracted him for the job to give him the leave during this particular time to complete his marriage.

"How is it possible that the board accepted his condition? Is the authority aware about the timing? I really find it funny," said a very surprised Tiger.

"He settled his marriage date before making the agreement with us, and as a result we were bound to accept his demand. He is a trainer not the physiotherapist. There is an assistant coach (Salahuddin) with the team who has a knowledge about the matter," said BCB general secretary and cricket committee chairman Mahbubul Anam over telephone.

Paul Chapman is supposed to join the team on October 9.

SHARMA NOT A TIGER
Bangladesh cricket team are struggling with their veteran liaison officer since they have arrived in the city. The Tigers have already lodged a complaint against the 70-year-old Professor Ashutosh Sharma to the ICC authorities and requested them to change the man.

Sharma is a true gentleman but the problem is that he couldn't do anything for the visiting side on time. This has created a lot of difficulties for the Tigers.

"We had to protest as we need a smart and active man to do everything," said a Bangladesh team official.

BIRTHDAY NO HEADACHE
Bangladesh's leading fast bowler Mashrafee Bin Mortuza turned twenty-four yesterday.

The team arranged a big cake to celebrate the birthday of the "Narail Express" at the Taj Hotel in Chandigarh.

"I have never formally celebrated my birthday. My wife wished me over the telephone from home and then my teammates," said the newly married right-arm paceman who has recovered from injury to play the second biggest one-day cricket jamboree.

"It would be actually nice if I could do something in the tournament. I am looking forward to play the first game rather thinking on my birthday," said Mashrafee who was struggling to find the line and length in the practice game on Wednesday against PCA XI.

DENGUE FEAR
Everything is fine for the Tigers in the beautiful city of Chandigarh, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana, except two things -- aedis mosquito and obtaining a mobile SIM card.

The city was stirred to learn that a few people have tested positive for dengue. The local media have covered the issue prominently as Delhi is the most affected by the serious dengue fever.

The problem is not big news for the Bangladesh team and the visiting reporters but that didn't prevent them from taking all types of precautionary measures.

"There is no relieve from Dengue even away from home. I asked the hotel authority to spray the players' and officials' rooms everyday," said team manager Khaled Mahmud.

"Oh its dangerous. I had the experience in Sri Lanka," said a concerned coach Dav Whatmore.

Meanwhile, not only the Bangladeshi journalists but also the players had to try hard for a SIM card here, as there are a lot of formalities to complete.

The passport with the valid visa was not good enough for managing the card as they even asked for a driving card or something which is close to that.