Sylhet all set to host maiden Test

Sylhet – Sylhet International Cricket Stadium is going to host its first Test match when Bangladesh will face visiting Zimbabwe in the first match of a two-game Test series beginning on November 3.To make this historic event memorable, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has taken some special arrangements alongside traditional rules of Test cricket.

According to the tradition, the match referee will whistle the buzzer to kick off the maiden Test at the venue. Besides, the BCB has made a souvenir coin, which will be used for the toss in the match.

The highest governing body of Bangladesh cricket has a preparation to publish a souvenir book to exhibit the history of cricket in Sylhet. Besides, all players of the match will receive a special gift each as souvenir.

BCB Director and its Logistics and Protocol Committee Chairman Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel disclosed these at a press conference at a city hotel on Wednesday.

He urged the people of Sylhet to come to the stadium to enjoy the match, saying, “We want to make the maiden Test of Sylhet venue memorable. We have already invited former Test cricketers of Sylhet to witness the match.”

Nadel also said school students will get free entry to the stadium to enjoy the game from the second day of the match.

Sylhet International Cricket Stadium is going to host a Test match after its inception in 2013 and is set to become Bangladesh’s eighth Test venue.

A venue of country’s north-eastern city with a capacity of 18,000 audience, the stadium will also host its first ODI, between Bangladesh and West Indies, on December 14.

The venue has so far hosted seven T20I games, six of them during the ICC World T20 in 2014 and one in February this year between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.UNB