BSPA names Shakib greatest ever sportsperson from Bangladesh
Bangladesh Sports Press Association (BSPA) named Shakib Al Hasan as the greatest sportsperson in the history of Bangladesh.
On Friday, at a programme held to celebrate the 60-year anniversary of BSPA at a hotel in Dhaka, the association declared a list of the 10 greatest sportspersons in Bangladesh history.
Bangladesh’s Test and Twenty20 captain Shakib Al Hasan topped that list.
The other nine names in the list are in order– Kazi Salahuddin (football), Niaz Murshed (chess), Monem Munna (football), Mosharraf Hossain (boxing), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (cricket), Asif Hossain Khan (shooting), Shah Alam (sprint), Mosharraf Hossain (swimming) and Siddikur Rahman (golf).
Shakib thanked the organisers for bestowing this honour on him, adding that this is his ‘greatest individual achievement’.
“This is a great honour for me. This is my greatest individual achievement. I’ve said this before, the 10 sportspersons who have been included in the list are the best in their respective fields. All of them have made great contributions to their respective games. One had to be selected as the best. That ended up being me. I would like to thank everyone who chose me. Hopefully, I can repay this great honour for however long I continue playing the game,” Shakib said after receiving the award.
The all-rounder also said that each sportsperson who represents Bangladesh globally carries the responsibility to help the country prosper through sports.
“All of us have to help the country prosper from our respective positions. As we are sportspersons, we have to take the country forward through sports. That should be our goal."
“This (award) will make me more responsible, it will inspire me. An honour like this would inspire anyone. For me, this award is an inspiration and a responsibility. I will try to do even better in the future,” Shakib said.
Shakib received the award from Bangladesh’s youth and sports minister Zahid Ahsan Russel. 10 sports journalists were also awarded at the event.
A nine-member jury board selected the list of 10 sportspersons out of a preliminary list of 110.