Int’l age-level cricket set to return in Rajshahi
After a gap of 13 years, international age-level cricket will return to Rajshahi, as the Bangladesh Under-19 team will take on their Pakistani counterparts for three Youth One-Day Internationals (YODI) and a Twenty20 match at the Shaheed AHM Kamaruzzaman Stadium in the district, reports news agency BSS.
The stadium, which was built in 2004 with a capacity of 15,000 hosted three group stage matches of the 2004 ICC U-19 World Cup and four matches of the 2010 South Asian Games. But since then, no international age-level side or any international cricket team for that matter has played at the venue.
This long waiting period will end very soon as three YODIs between Bangladesh and Pakistan will take place here on 11, 13 and 15 May and the lone T20 match will be held on 17 May, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) appointed venue manager of the stadium Arefin Islam.
Arefin further said all necessary preparations for the series have already been completed.
Bangladesh will host the Pakistan U-19 team for an unofficial Test, five ODIs and one T20 in this tour.
The Pakistan U-19 team will land in Dhaka and then go to Chattogram where the unofficial Test and the first two YODIs of the tour will be played at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
Then both sides will travel to Rajshahi for the remaining matches, all of which will be played at the Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi.
Former Bangladesh captain and Rajshahi-born Khaled Mashud Pilot said there was no international match in Rajshahi for many years. A new chapter will begin when the Under-19 games are played.
The former wicketkeeper said that the series would be very good for Rajshahi Cricket Stadium, one of the biggest cricket venues in the northwest region of the country but has been neglected for long.
Many top cricketers of the country have played at the venue in the past but it has been neglected for a long time.
The dearth of three-star or five-star hotels close to the venue was a big reason why it hasn’t had any international level cricket for so long.