The power of prayers!
Tigercricket.com, Port of Spain
Mrs. Cotton is one of those sweet little old ladies with a big heart and all the affection of your model Grandma. On learning that a group of die-hard Bangladesh fans were looking for a place to invite the Tigers over for dinner Mrs. Cotton offered the extension of her place which she usually rents. This time however she would not charge a dime."You know I had prayed all day to God when you played India," Cotton was saying as she went from one player to another for autographs with the excitement of a star-struck teenager. "I said 'God, an upset please' and He listened. I also told all my friends at the church to pray for the Bangladesh team and they did," said Cotton. There is a significant presence of Muslims in Trinidad also, some 10-12 percent I was told mostly of Indian descent. The Muslim community on learning that the Bangladesh players wished to say the Juma'a prayers on Friday arranged transportation for the cricketers to go the mosque. The Imam of the Nur Islam Mosque in downtown Port of Spain then offered special prayers for the Bangladesh team. The players were given gifts, offered snacks and ice-cool soft-drinks and had to oblige autograph seekers and well-wishers as the India Sri Lanka match continued to decide Bangladesh's fate at the Queen's Park Oval. Even grand old ladies and girls wearing the hijab just had to come and shake the players' hands after the prayers. Divine intervention was going on all around it seemed. Pace bowler Tapash Baisya went to a local Hindu temple and sought blessings. He then proceeded to the Oval and saw Sri Lanka crush the Indian dream and revive the Bangladeshi one.
| 
