Home ›› 15 Oct 2021 ›› Sport
I can use this line, ‘the birth and death of Dhaka Cricket Stadium’, to start my piece.
For the cricket lovers in then East Pakistan, the very concept of having a huge and proper Cricket Stadium right in the middle of Dhaka was like a dream impossible to dream. But that impossible dream began to materialize bit by bit right in front of their eyes on the sprawling ground located on the eastern side of the then Jinnah Avenue (Now Bangabandhu Avenue). Passing by the posh avenue, where some magnificent cinema halls, restaurants, shops and offices were located, I, as a growing child used to look at the construction site and big vehicles coming and going making a lot of noise. The flurry of activities kept us on the edge of our patience as we wanted to see a real stadium standing there. Slowly, ever so slowly, the stadium began to take shape as per the drawing. Once completed, it looked like a big white bowl. It was a treat for the eye and a thing to be proud of for the Bengalis. Through the locked gates, we could see inside– the oval ground and the pitch in the middle. On its eastern side, only the Dhaka Improvement Trust building was visible. On the southern side was the outer stadium, a large open playground, where young men used to play cricket and football.
Since 1954, Tests started to be played in Dhaka stadium. I remember watching Pakistan-MCC, Pakistan-Australia, Pakistan West Indies, and Pakistan-New Zealand Tests there with family and friends. A kind of picnic environment used to prevail during such matches where female fans used to go to watch their idols like Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Kardar play.
I still remember very high-quality snacks in packets made by reputable confectioners being sold during lunch break. It was a craze to us young ones. For the young boys like me, the massive scoreboard was a thing of awe. How did the numbers move?
One of my uncles later explained that there were humans inside who moved scores manually.
Below are some paragraphs I have borrowed from the article titled ‘Tale of Bangabandhu Stadium’ written by Lutfur Rahman. Many unknown aspects of the history of this great edifice have been incorporated by the writer in this article.
“A new ground was created by the eastern side of Jinnah Avenue, namely EPSF Ground with fencing of CI sheets all around, with a beautiful two-storied pavilion, concrete galleries (shifted from old DSA ground) on the two sides of the pavilion and with high wooden galleries on the rest three sides. The ground covered a little more than the present stadium.
“When the Pakistan Cricket Control Board decided to hold the First Test match against India in 1954-55 on their first tour to this country, then we had no standard ground to hold a Test match. Then the planners overnight decided to make the EPSF ground a Test venue by extending its eastern boundary further east to give it an oval shape, demolishing two cricket grounds of Victoria and EP Gymkhana with its grass wickets. Accordingly, the EPSF pavilion was demolished, and a concrete semi-circle gallery was constructed hurriedly. Since available time was limited, the authority could not complete the galleries, instead, the existing wooden galleries were dragged and completed to give the shape of an Oval cricket ground. Hurriedly they completed the ground by planting new grass and took great care to make the stadium available for the Test match just in time.
“It was officially opened in 1954. Later on, by 1955-56, the wooden galleries were replaced by constructing concrete galleries. Afterwards, the stadium was made two-storied.”
As I remember, other important features, like the players’ lounge, dressing rooms, better toilets, press gallery, staircase etc., were added gradually. To watch international matches, VIPs like ministers, MNAs, diplomats, and senior army officers used to go there with family. Bunking schools and colleges by the students was a common thing during Tests. The stadium did not have so many shops outside on the ground floor. It had a much decent look up to the ‘60s until it was converted into a football stadium. Sorry to say, I am a witness to the creation of this beautiful structure as a youngster (8 to12), and also, its sad demise in the 90s. Can you think of the same fate befalling the great Oval ground of London?
Shahnoor Wahid is the Associate Editor at The Business Post.
