The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), which plans to make Sylhet a complete sport complex, has drawn up a comprehensive plan to build an outer stadium with modern facilities next to the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (SICS).

The picturesque SICS recently became a Test venue, joining a slew of international venues in the country after Bangabandhu National Stadium, Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, M.A Aziz Stadium, Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, Shaheed Chandu Stadium and Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium.

The BCB had inaugurated the foundation of the outer stadium by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2016 to build the sports complex. But work had remained stalled till now.  

Recently, the construction of the outer stadium began in full swing. The Sylhet Divisional Sports Association (SDSA) expects to finish the work within the next eight to nine months to make it a cricket arena, said Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel, secretary of the SDSA.

“If a stadium is of international standard and hosts first-class cricket regularly, it would be better to have a well-furnished practice ground or outdoor stadium beside it. If we look at our Mirpur stadium, it can get a picture,” said Shafiul Alam Nadel, who is also an executive board director of the BCB.

“We want to build a cricket arena around the Sylhet Stadium. Beside the main stadium, we’ll have an outer stadium, dormitory for our age-level cricketers. Again, when senior-level players and national team players will come to play here, they can be accommodated here. We need to build an academy building also,” Nadel told The Independent at his office of the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (SICS), in Sylhet, yesterday.

“We’ve have fixed a place for the academy in our outer stadium. The BCB will build the academy in like the Dhaka’s National Cricket Academy (NCA) with their funds. The board will build similar academy buildings across the country to promote its regional cricket,” he added.

Nadel said that the BCB, meanwhile, had discussions with the architects on a smooth completion of the work within eight to nine months.

“The work of our outer stadium has already started. Our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally laid the foundation in 2016. But the work got delayed due to several reasons,” he said.

“We hope to finish the work within the time frame set and start the new games of the next season, though on a limited scale,” he maintained.

Along with the outer stadium, a string of pitches will also be built there simultaneously along with a dressing room, dormitory, surrounding green galleries an academy building with modern toilet facilities.

This BCB director from Sylhet Division said that they had got directives from the board president and had talks with the National Sports Council (NCL).

He also said the stadium construction and pitch preparation would go on simultaneously.

“When the work will start, pitch preparation will also start at the same time. It will be done by BCB appointed curators,” he said.

“But pitch-making is a time-consuming matter. it takes more time than building a stadium. So, the work will go on side by side. This will help us to prepare the pitch within reasonable time. This is our plan,” he revealed.

“To conduct first-class cricket, we will do or build whatever is needed. There will have a pavilion, dressing room, umpires’ room, dining room, toilet facilities with ice-bath,” he said.

Shafiul Alam also informed that the gallery of the outer stadium would not be the same as the Sylhet stadium, but a greenery type.

“Besides that, there will be some seating arrangement for the spectators in the pavilion also,” he added.

“Overall, we are getting a complete cricket complex. We will get an additional advantage because it will be in the midst of beautiful natural surroundings. It’s going to be an establishment not only for cricket but for all sports,” he said.

He said there were other plans for the main and outer stadiums.

“We’ve started working for an archive on a limited scale. We’ve made a gallery, which we initiated just before the inaugural of the Test venue. Our local players, who had played and are still playing at the national level, have got places in the photo gallery,” he said.

“We’ve planning to build a museum with the souvenir of the teams that played here at the stadium since long past,” he added.