Sport in Bangladesh

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sports and games form an integral part of Bangladeshi's life. In the villages one might see a passel of kids kicking a football, or in some dusty alley one might see kids playing cricket. Though Bangladesh is not a major sporting power in any sense, Bangladeshi athletes and sportspersons have brought her many laurels. Most popular sports in Bangladesh are football (soccer), cricket and kabaddi. Kabaddi is the national sport of Bangladesh.

1 Sports
2 Sports organisation
3 Sports Clubs
4 External links

[edit] Sports

[edit] Cricket

Cricket is a game which has a massive and passionate following in Bangladesh. There is a strong domestic league which on many occasions also saw Test players from many countries (Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, England) gracing the cricket fields of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has now joined the elite group of countries eligible to play Test cricket. The Bangladesh national cricket team goes by the nick-name of the Tigers—after the Royal Bengal Tiger which too calls Bangladesh its home.

The Cricket-Culture is not at all a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. As elsewhere in the subcontinent, the game itself was first introduced to the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta region by the British rulers nearly two centuries ago. For the better part of the British rule, cricket remained a recreational game for the aristocrats, inaccessible to the common people because of colonial class distinctions and the complicated nature of the game which the locals did not make out so easily. Following the bloody freedom struggle which ended in Bangladesh gaining independence in 1971, cricket has continued to grow. It was slow to start, other things having priority at the beginning.

Early in 1975, the Dhaka (then "Dacca") stadium was in disrepair, the square having sunk several inches and the Press Club shell-torn. The M.C.C. tour in 1976/77 helped to build the enthusiasm; over 40,000 people attended the representative match at Dhaka. In 1977, Bangladesh became an Associate member of the International Cricket Council. Two further M.C.C. teams toured in 1978/79 and 1980/81.

The standard of cricket quickly rose, and soon Bangladesh was the top ICC associate country in the region, winning all ACC tournaments. This gave them the opportunity to play in the Asia Cup, against teams like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Third Asia Cup took place in Bangladesh in 1988 with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participating as well as the host country.

In 1989/90, Bangladesh played hosts to the First Under-19 Asia Cup. In 1997, Bangladesh won the ICC Trophy in Malaysia, qualifying for its first ever world cup appearance. Soon after, Bangladesh, along with Kenya were granted full ODI status by the ICC. Bangladesh posted its first ODI win against Kenya in India in 1998. In October of 1998, Bangladesh hosted—although they did not participate—the first ever "Mini World Cup", a knock-out basis ODI tournament featuring all the test playing nations. In 1999, in their maiden appearance at the World Cup in England, Bangladesh defeated fellow ICC associate Scotland, and then won a match from favorites Pakistan.

As a reward of bright performance in ICC and World Cup, Bangladesh was given the status of the 10th test playing nation on the 26 June 2000. As the famous ex-cricketer Ali Bacher of South Africa noted during his visit to Dhaka, 'the game of cricket has great prospects in a country like Bangladesh where there is cricket on the streets, cricket in the schools, in the villages, a competitive league, and Friday cricket—drawing crowds of spectators who love the game in all its forms.' The game, having shed its aristocratic restrictions, prospers at the very grass-roots of Bangladeshi society.

[edit] Kabaddi

Kabaddi is a team game. Two teams of seven players occupy opposite halves of a field of 12.5m x 10m divided by a line into two halves. The teams take turns sending a "raider" across to the opposite team's half, where the goal is to tag or wrestle ("capture") members of the opposite team before returning to the home half. Tagged members are "out" and are sent off the field. The raider must not take a breath during the raid, and must prove it by constantly chanting (called 'cant' or 'dak') during the raid. Meanwhile, the defenders must form a chain, for example by linking hands; if the chain is broken, a member of the defending team is sent off. The goal of the defenders is to stop the raider from returning to the home side before taking a breath.

In 1980, Bangladesh became the runners-up in the first Asian Kabaddi Championship and India emerged as the champion. Bangladesh became runners-up again in the next Asian Kabaddi Championship held in 1985 at Jaipur, India.

[edit] Football (Soccer)

Football is very popular in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is currently ranked 158th in the FIFA ranking. After Zinedine Zidane visit to Bangladesh, he offered to coach the Bangladeshi team. Bangladesh became the 2003 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) champion. SAFF includes Southern Asian countries and other countries from Asia.

[edit] Sports organisation

Sports organisation in Bangladesh has undergone many changes in different periods before and after its independence. The Bangladesh Sports Control Board was established in 1972. There are 29 registered federations under this board. These include federations for popular games such as football, cricket, hockey, tennis, badminton, volleyball, handball, chess, and carom as well as for wrestling, weightlifting, squash, billiard, and snooker, which are less popular in Bangladesh. Other recognised sports organisations in the country are the district and divisional sports organisations, university sports organisations, and the sports bodies of the armed forces, police and ansar, as well as of public sector corporations, boards and departments such as Bangladesh Biman, BJMC, BTMC, PWD, and Bangladesh Railway.

[edit] Sports Clubs

Sport clubs have a significant contribution to the development of sports in the country. Prominent among the clubs of Bangladesh are Abahani Krirachakra, Arambag, Ajax, Azad Sporting, Brothers Union, Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting, Dhaka Wanderers, Dilkusha Sporting, GMCC, Kalabagan, Muktijoddha Sangsad, Rahmatganj, Suryatarun, Victoria Sporting, and Wari. Some of these clubs are reputed for their glorious past while others earned a name by excellent performance at national level at present.

Abahani Krira Chakra
Mohammedan Sporting Club
Arambag Club
Azad Sporting Club
Brothers Union Club
Victoria Sporting Club
Wari Club

[edit] Arambag Club

Arambag Club was established in Dhaka in 1958. It was at first a football club, but later became active in other games like handball, basketball and volleyball. The club has had continued success in different tournaments. It became champion in the 4th and 5th Shital Women's Handball competitions. In 1980, it was champion in the Alpha Cup Football Tournament of Nepal and, in 1995, runner up in the eighth Chief Minister Gold Cup Football Tournament of Sikkim and in the Nagji Gold Cup Tournament of India. In 1997, the club took part in a football tournament at Agartala that marked the golden jubilee of the independence of India. In the same year, it became runner up at home in the Federation Cup Football Tournament.

[edit] Azad Sporting Club

Azad Sporting Club was founded at Dhaka in 1949. Main patrons of the club were the writers, poets, painters, actors, and publishers. Its football team was promoted from the second division league to the first division in 1951 and in 1958, it became champion of Dhaka's first division football league. Azad Sporting is not a prominent club now in terms of its performance in different championships, but it is given special credit because of its role as a school of training up young sportsmen. The club prepares not only football players but also athletes, cyclists, and the players of basketball, volleyball, hockey, cricket, and badminton.

[edit] Brothers Union Club

Brothers Union Club was established at Gopibag, Dhaka in 1949. The club, however, remained little known until 1973, when it first appeared in the third division football league and became its champion of that league. The next year, it played in the second division football league and as the champion of the season, it was promoted to the first division. Ever since the club has had continued success and, in course of time, it became the third most powerful football club of the country next to Abahani and Mohammedan. Brothers Union also performs well in cricket, chess and handball.

In 2004 and 2005 they became champion in senior division football league.Football lovers really want their beloved orange dream team to be the number one again in 2006.

[edit] Victoria Sporting Club

Victoria Sporting Club, named after Queen Victoria—the club was established by a group of zamindars of the Tejgaon and Kurmitola areas of Dhaka in 1903. Initially, it was a football club, but later, it started taking part in hockey and cricket in the 1930s. The club became champion in Dhaka's first division football league championship in 1948. In 1960 and 1961, it finished the same as runner up but, in 1962, it clinched the championship title in four major football tournaments of Dhaka, including the first division league. That year, it played with South Korea in the final match of the Aga Khan Gold Cup Tournament and defeated her by five goals to one. The club, however, failed to sustain its reputation of a grade one football team. It is now known as a medium class team in Dhaka's first division football league. But it performs well in games like badminton, boxing, wrestling and weight lifting.

[edit] Wari Club

Wari Club was established in 1898 by a number of enthusiastic sports organisers under the leadership of Roybahadur Surendranath Roy of the Wari area of Dhaka. The club, however, took a regular shape only in the 1920s, when it acquired a playground in the Paltan area of the city and also constructed an office near it. Wari is a special club known for its glorious achievements in football at different times. It became widely known in 1910, when it defeated the Royal Palace Football Team in a charity match. In a friendly match in 1917, Wari defeated Lincolin Club, which was the first division football league champion. In 1937, Eilington Corinthian, a famous European football team of that time, toured India, and the local team with 10 players of Wari stopped its rally of remaining unbeaten in a row. Even today, Wari is always considered a threat to big football teams, who often lose matches in encounters with it. Wari has a good record in other games also. It became champion in three consecutive years in the Dhaka cricket league (1951-1953) and in the Dhaka volleyball league (1972-1974).

[edit] External links

Bangladesh Football: A site dedicated to the national football team of Bangladesh. Contains latest news, clubs, stadiums, information, honours and stats of Bangladesh football.

Dabaru: Dabaru.com is a Bangladeshi chess site where you will find local chess news, international chess news, recent chess games, biography of the great chess players of Bangladesh and of the world.

Bangladesh Sports: News and Discussions on Bangladesh Cricket, Football, Basketball, Tennis, Handball, Kabadi, Volleyball, Chess, Hockey, Athletics and Other Bangladeshi Sports.

Bangladesher Khela: Bangladesherkhela.com is a Bangla sports news site. This site is a Bangladeshi website exclusively focused on Bangladeshi Sports.

Bangla Cricket: The official cricket site for Bangladesh Cricket fans. Come here for latest information on Bangladesh Cricket, live discussion, breaking news and much more.

Cricinfo-Bangladesh: Home of cricket on the internet. Cricinfo offers the most comprehensive live coverage of international and domestic cricket in Bangladesh as well as in other cricket playing nations.