SBNCS touches 100th ODI match landmark
Boon also reaches a feat of officiating 100th ODI as ICC Match Referee
Sports Reporter
Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur, popularly known as the home of cricket saw a low-key celebration on a day when it reached the landmark of hosting 100th ODI match. There was no special arrangement from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to mark the day and at the same time, from the spectators there was no response. The reason was however understandable: Bangladesh wasnt involved in the match when SBNCS hosted the landmark match.
Unluckily for the Bangladeshi fans, the match between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka was the venues 100th ODI. Unluckily for the venue, it did hardly get 100 spectators on its special day. Since it was unveiled for the international match on December 8, 2006, Mirpur had never seen such a low presence in its venue, even not in a Test match.
However H the first word of Hundred was written on the coin which was used for the toss, as commemorate of the venues 100th match while 38 ground staffs wore commemorate jacket. And then after the toss, Celebrating 100 ODIs at Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium was shown on the stadiums giant screen and digital parameter. BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon was given a commemorate crest on the occasion. Those were the things as the effort to mark the feat of the countrys prime cricket venue who took over the rein from the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS).
BNS was used to be summer for football, winter for cricket. As crickets schedule got busier and especially when the game gained tremendous popularity in Bangladesh after the ICC trophy in 1997, putting a shed on football, cricket demanded a separate stadium. Moreover that time it started to clash with the football federation. It was clear that one stadium couldnt house two sports like they did in Australia. More to the point, two sporting bodies couldnt coexist.
The government finally intervened in mid-2004 when they asked the BCB to make arrangements at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in the citys populous northern locality of Mirpur. It held some league football matches but was known for violent after-match incidents and some athletic meets.
However on December 8, 2006, Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium was unveiled with the match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. After that it hosted many high profile matches like the 2011 World Cup and gradually established it as the daunting fortress of Bangladesh. The hosts have grand successes like beating New Zealand 4-0 in 2010, reaching the final of the 2012 Asia Cup, picking up ODI series wins over India, Pakistan and South Africa in 2015. Mirpur is the site of Test wins over England and Australia also. Bangladesh so far played 84 ODIs here, winning 40 and losing 42 with rest of the matches being abandoned or no result.
The Bangladeshs home of cricket however touched the milestone of 100th ODI in shortest time- a little over 11 years, compared to five other stadiumsSharjah, Sydney, Melbourne, Harare Sports Club (Zimbabwe) and R Premadasa Stadium, Colombowho had already reached the landmark.
Meanwhile, former Australian opener David Boon, who is now acting as ICC Match Referee, also reached an individual milestone as he officiated his 100th match as ICC Match Referee on the day. BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon presented a memento to Boon for reaching the feat.
