Shaheed Chandu stadium: An int'l cricket venue unknown to this generation

Political animosity or rivalry is between parties or between individuals. But only because of political vendetta, there is no example of an international test venue being destroyed anywhere except Bangladesh. A grim witness to the extreme negligence and discrimination of the previous government is the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogura.

2006 to 2025, in these 19 years, a new generation has been created in the country whose favorite game is cricket. Many of them have started playing in age-group teams. Many people's favorite players may be Shakib.But the sad thing is that most of the cricket fans of this generation of the country do not know that there was an international cricket venue in Bogura!

Just few days back Bogura's local hero veteran Bangladesh Cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim nicknamed completed his 20-year journey in International cricket, a rare feat for Bangladesh cricket.

Two decades ago on May 26, Mushfiqur made a debut in International cricket for Bangladesh. In 20 years, he showed resilience and steely resolve in all formats of cricket to keep Bangladesh cricket going.

Mushfiqur is just inch closer to become the first Bangladeshi cricketer to play 100 Tests. May be after that he will call time on his Test career. But the sad thing is Mushfiqur is yet to play a single international or BPL at his home ground. Maybe he will have to retire from cricket with this great regret. Apart from Mushfiqur, a number of star players are representing Bangladesh men's and women's national team from Bogura such as Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Towhid Hridoy, Ritu Moni, Sharmin Sultana and more but they all are playing for the national team with regrets about not being able to play in Bogura.

In fact, due to long absence of international cricket in Bogura, there is no buzz among the local people about when an international cricket match will be held at this stadium either. Bogura's people seem to have forgotten that Shaheed Chandu Stadium is yet the third Test venue in the country. However, yet, even in its short period of time, Chandu Stadium has witnessed many memorable things.

Veteran sports journalist Shamim Chowdhury who is currently head of development and recharch of T Sports, witnessed Bangladesh's memorable series against Sri Lanka at Shaheed Chandu stadium in 2006 from the press-box. He shared his experience with with Asian Age about this stadium. "This stadium was built in just 8 months. A total of 8 stadiums were prepared ahead of the 2004 Under-19 World Cup. Shaheed Chandu Stadium is one of them. The late Arafat Rahman Koko, the youngest son of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, himself, since his ancestral home is in Boura, took the initiative to build a stadium in Bogura." Shamim Chowdhury said. "Before building this stadium, the ICC gave several conditions to the BCB. For example: There was a barrier here as there were no three-star or four-star hotels. Local MP Md Shokrana took a huge initiative under the government's guidance, and built Naz Garden Hotel, and at that time it was a four-star hotel. Now it has become a five-star hotel. Only after ensuring players and match officials' world-class accommodation, Bogura's Chandu Stadium finaly got international status." He added.

Shaheed Chandu Stadium entered into the international cricket history when it became the 166th venue of the international (ODI) cricket. One of the five purpose-built cricket grounds established for the under-19 world cup in 2004, it was granted international status in 2006 with the Test match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the third ICC approved venue in country. The stadium turned into a human sea on its debut.

In Bangladesh cricket, it's true that very few players have been given a proper on-field farewell. But Bangladesh former captain Khaled Mahmud Sujon was one of the few cricketers to retire on the field, bidding farewell during the first match of the ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2006 at Chandu Stadium.He received a formal farewell and was greeted with floral greetings.

Recalling his retirement from the field, he said, "When I retired, my entire family was present in the stadium in Bogura-I was very proud that my entire family was there for my final match. It is a significant moment when you retire from the field. The board officials at the time gave me that honour."

"Bogra recorded a record number of spectators in the 2004 Under-19 World Cup. The stadium was packed with spectators in every match. The stadium was inaugurated in several stages. It was inaugurated once with a match against Zimbabwe. There were a lot of spectators there." Shamim Chowdhury said.

Interestingly, due to BCB's indifference and political reasons, Bogura's Chandu Stadium has been neglected for years and is far from international cricket, but because of the excellent outfield and bouncy wicket at Chandu Stadium, the BCB organised a one-month camp in Bogura for the youth team before going to the Under-19 World Cup in 2020, keeping in mind the conditions in South Africa. And it was then that the young Tigers lifted the Under-19 World Cup for the first time under the leadership of Akbar Ali. Not only that, Bangladeshi women's cricket team had their first camp here before making their international debut. Tigresses made their debut in international cricket through the Asia Cup in 2008.