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Dhaka, 20 April (HS). Bangladesh began their preparations for the upcoming five-match T20 series against Zimbabwe with a running session on the athletics turf of the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Saturday.
Bangladesh started its cricket journey at this venue before all cricket activities were shifted to Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in 2006. The Bangabandhu Stadium was handed over to the Bangladesh Football Federation, after which cricket activities ceased.
Of the 35 cricketers who took part in the fitness session, only Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah have had the privilege of playing on this ground.
The arrival of cricketers at BNS, albeit for a short period, became a topic of discussion among people living in Old Dhaka, where the stadium is located. Eventually they gathered in large numbers to see the national stars.
Former national opening batsman and current Deputy Manager of BCB Cricket Operations Shahryar Nafees went down memory lane after returning to the ground from where he started his cricket journey.
“I came to this place for the first time in 1994,” Nafees told reporters after his fitness session on Saturday. A lot of icon cricketers used to play here and we used to come to watch them. “Every inch of the Bangabandhu Stadium has a history.”
He said, “Those who are new may not have played here but they must have heard about this stadium. “Many of them (cricketers) were born around 2000 and may not have played here but they have definitely heard stories about this venue.”
“Look, it was not expected that so many people would come to see the fitness at six o'clock, but because it is Bangabandhu you can come and everyone had a good experience,” he said.
Bangladesh Cricket Board's newly appointed strength and conditioning coach Nathan Kiely was present during the fitness training session.
35 cricketers took part in the session, which was divided into a 1600 meters race session followed by a 40 meters race. Soumya Sarkar and Taijul Islam were absent due to knee injuries while Shakib Al Hasan is currently in the US with his family.