Search for relief ends in disappointment

The stands at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai were mostly empty for today's Bangladesh-New Zealand World Cup match with some clusters of fans sprinkled across the massive gallery.

In one such cluster, around 30 or so Bangladeshis were looking on in despair as Shakib Al Hasan's troops kept losing wickets at regular intervals against the Kiwis.

The disappointment of seeing the Tigers hobble to a sub-par total was not a pleasant sight for any Bangladesh fan present at the venue.

However, for this selection of fans, the sorry display of the batters was even more disheartening.

"When we heard the Bangladesh team will come here to play their World Cup match against New Zealand, more than 30 of us who are here from Bangladesh for medical purposes decided to watch the game together," said Ruhul Amin, who came to Chennai from Brahmanbaria with his wife around two weeks ago for medical purposes.

Unlike most Bangladeshis at the venue, the main purpose of their visit to Chennai was not to see the Tigers in action. They have made the journey to the capital of Tamil Nadu state to receive medical treatment.

Exhausted from the constant visits to hospitals, pharmacies, and medical testing facilities and staying away from their loved ones for weeks or even months, many Bangladeshi patients came to the Chepauk Stadium on Friday to see the Tigers in action, in hopes of forgetting their hardships for a few hours at least.

"To be honest, it's not easy to come to another country for treatment purposes as it can take a huge mental toll. Apart from going to the hospital and returning to the hotel, we have hardly done anything else since arriving in Chennai," Ruhul added, reflecting how Shakib's team treated them with further disappointment in the first innings of the match, as they could only muster 245-9 in their 50 overs.

Every year around 2.5 million Bangladeshis travel to India for medical purposes. Chennai is a popular destination among them for its top-notch medical facilities at comparatively affordable rates.