Crowds flocked to the Bangabandhu Stadium, hoping the success of smoothly pulling off Bangladesh's biggest international event would extend to the opening match on Saturday, in which the host nation face India.
"We have done brilliantly," said housewife Sharmin Sultana. "For our country to be able to do something like this – now I hope we make it to the finals. We have got Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal. I think we could do really well. Who knows, one day we might even get the football World Cup too."
While hopes of staging the football World Cup may be more elusive, Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister, has said she hopes the tournament – on which the country has spent more than £62m – will allow Bangladesh to project a newer and better vision of itself to the world.
Even the opposition, the Bangladesh National Party, in the midst of a campaign of calling for strikes to protest against the ruling Awami League, has called a temporary truce between the warring factions, promising no political unrest for the duration of the tournament.
Chris Austin, the UK's country representative of the Department for International Development, added to the excitement after describing the tournament as Bangladesh's Olympics, with high hopes of the Tigers making it to the final stages.
It was a view shared by most revellers in the capital, many of whom felt the acts featured in the opening ceremony were less important than staging the show itself. Children danced in the colours of the national flags and singers from the three host nations, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, performed in all three languages, with a laser light show beamed across the audience of 40,000.
None of the acts were more irrelevant than the headline act, the Canadian rocker Bryan Adams.
Student Shawon Ali, 17, who had queued for three days to get his ticket, said: "This is fantastic for Bangladesh – if we can do this, Bangladesh will rise up as a nation. The world will understand we are not just about poverty. They will see we also have culture. I had to come because otherwise I would never get to see something like this.
"Oh, and I want to see Adams. I heard he's the big singer from Canada."
Despite the heavy police presence, parties which had begun the night before continued into the late hours following a climactic fireworks display which drew huge roars from the crowds.
Teenage boys sporting bottle-green jerseys worn by the national cricket team danced with housewives and grandparents with "I love Bangladesh" painted on their cheeks.
Police officers surveyed the scene from the minarets of mosques, while the country's self-styled "elite" crime fighting force, the Rapid Action Battalion, dressed in their trademark black uniforms with black bandanas and wraparound sunglasses, kept cheering fans away from the convoys of coaches bringing players into the stadium.
Fans were disappointed after the promise of giant TV screens turned out to be little more than four-by-five-feet displays which fluttered in the winds and were subject to technical sound hitches. But aside from minor scuffles as hundreds pushed further and further forward to try to see what was going on, police kept things under control.
As Bangladesh prepares to celebrate 40 years since winning independence next month, the country hopes the tournament will mark a turning point in its fortunes – even for those who were largely unimpressed by the ceremony.
"I think this one was weaker than when we hosted the South Asian Football Federation," said photographer Sayedur Rahman Swapan, 48.
"The displays were not as good, apart from the laser show and the bungee cricket players coming down on ropes. But the thing is that we managed to do it and we have never seen an event as big as this in Bangladesh.
"The enjoyment and excitement among people is amazing, because an international event is being held here, and we have shown that we are ready for it. It is great for our confidence and it will be great for our cricket."
Source:guardian.co.uk
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