International cricket to return to Bogura back within two years, says BCB
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has given its clearest signal yet that Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogura is heading back into the international fold, with renovation work already under way at the long-neglected venue.
BCB director Asif Rabbani, who oversees the board's marketing affairs, said a renovation plan had been adopted and that some work had already started on the ground.
Speaking at an event held to remember Arafat Rahman Koko's contribution to cricket, he said a full return to international cricket was unlikely within a year but was realistic within eighteen months to two years.
"We hope it may not be possible within one year, but within one-and-a-half to two years, Inshallah, we believe we will be able to bring international cricket back here," Asif said.
Bogura's revival forms part of a wider push by the board to strengthen cricket infrastructure outside Dhaka and Chattogram. Asif also spoke about a recent BCB delegation visit to an Excellence Centre in India, describing the project as close to the heart of the board president.
"This board has a dream, especially our president has a dream, to develop the Excellence Centre," he said. "For Bangladesh cricket, we have not truly been able to develop facilities for our cricketers in the proper way. We believe that creating facilities and infrastructure must be given special importance."
He added that lessons from the India trip would feed directly into the design phase back home, with the board still weighing whether to revise elements of its existing plan.
Asked about the financial fallout of a stalled Bangladesh-India series, Asif was candid about the scale of the loss. "A Bangladesh-India series is certainly a very lucrative one from a marketing perspective. Financially and from every other aspect, it is highly significant. If the series does not happen, BCB will obviously suffer some losses. Inshallah, we will try to cover that in other ways in the future."
The board's plans have since been echoed by the government. State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque visited the stadium back in April and confirmed that development work would begin shortly. He said the ground would be rebuilt and the drainage system modernised in line with ICC and BCB requirements, adding that the Prime Minister had made a personal commitment to the project.
The stadium's fall from international status has been a long time coming. No international fixture has been staged there since an ODI against Zimbabwe in December 2006, and relations between the board and the local sports association hit a low point in March 2023, when the BCB withdrew its stadium status and pulled out staff and equipment, only reversing course after public protests.