Dubai: Bangla Tigers to help Bangladesh organize Bangabandhu Cricket League in the UAE in 2020. Bangla Tigers started community outreach programs to engage part of the 1-million strong Bangladeshi expatriates to encourage them to visit and enjoy the Abu Dhabi T10 matches at the Zayed Cricket Stadium from 15-24 November 2019.
An international cricket tournament, Bangabandhu Cricket League, will be held in the UAE in 2020, to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Father of the Nation of Bangladesh.
This was discussed at Bangladesh Consulate on Wednesday when a delegation led by Mr. Yasin Chowdhury, Owner of Bangla Tigers met Bangladesh government officials and invited them to attend the Abu Dhabi T10 League that takes place from November 14 to 24, 2019, in which the Bangladeshi-owned team will play.
Bangladesh Consul General Iqbal Hossain Khan mooted the idea to the delegation. The year 2020 is the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was born on March 17, 1920. Bangladesh Government, run by his daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has declared 2020 as the Year of Mujib. An elaborated schedule of the program has been undertaken by Bangladesh Government to celebrate the birth centenary.
“We want Bangabandhu Cricket League to be held before the start of the Expo 2020 – so that there is a good synergy between the two celebrations,” Iqbal Hossain Khan, Bangladesh Consul General said. “We want this tournament to be of an international standard with lots of international cricketers play in this league, depending on the availability of the schedule.”
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman sacrificed his youth in the struggle for the freedom of Bangladesh. At the age of 51, his dream came true when Bangladesh came into being in 1971. However, he could not live long as he was assassinated by a group of misguided members of the armed forces on August 15, 1975. He was 55.
His eldest daughter, Sheikh Hasina is currently trying to fulfill his unrealized dreams.
Bangla Tigers Owner Mr. Yasin Chowdhury said he will extend his all-out cooperation to make it a success.
Yasin Chowdhury said, “We will provide all-out cooperation to this initiative that will raise the profile of Bangladesh in the UAE and beyond and it would be my pleasure to be part of the initiative.”
During the meeting, he appraised Bangladesh Consulate officials of the initiatives undertaken by Bangla Tigers to attract Bangladeshi crowd to the Zayed Cricket Stadium, including providing free transport, tickets and food vouchers to the Bangladeshi crowd.
Bangla Tigers will facilitate free transport, ticket, and food to more than 3,000 cricket fans from across the UAE. Organizers are deploying a fleet of 60 buses to transport the cricket-lovers to the stadium, at their own cost. A large band will play traditional music at the stadium wearing a colorful costume at the Zayed Cricket Stadium that can host 21,000 people.
Yasin Chowdhury, Bangla Tigers’ Owner and Chairman of FMC Group, has started an elaborate program meeting thousands of Bangladeshi expatriates across the UAE. As part of the program, a Bangla Tigers Fan Club has been established in Sharjah, which organized the first community roadshow in Sharjah on Friday, November 1, 2019.
As part of the Community Outreach Programme, Bangla Tigers will organize three roadshows in Ajman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi from November 7-9 and a gala Jersey Unveiling Programme on November 13, 2019 – along with the players of the team. It will be attended by the Bangladeshi expatriate businessmen and prominent professionals, media and social media influencers.
Yasin Chowdhury said, “I am regularly meeting leading members of the large Bangladeshi expatriate community in the UAE. Most of them did not know about Abu Dhabi T10, because there wasn’t any team representing Bangladesh and Bangladeshis in this country.
“However, after knowing that there is a Bangladeshi team, the community members expressed their desire to come to the stadium to support us and enjoy the matches. I am very happy with the response. Due to the high demand, we have decided to deploy 60 buses to transport Bangladeshi expatriates to the stadium from different parts of the UAE.
“If we see the need for additional buses, we are ready to provide them so that our expatriates could enjoy the matches and cheer for us. This team is not owned by us. This team is owned by all the Bangladeshis. So as an owner, every Bangladeshi living in UAE has a huge responsibility of making our journey a success.”
In addition to the buses, thousands of others will come to the stadium with their vehicles. Nearly a million Bangladeshi expatriates live and work in the UAE. Bangladeshi nationals own more than 50,000 businesses in the UAE and they employ more than 150,000 professionals and workers.
Famous Bangladeshi film star Shakib Khan will be a star performer at the opening ceremony – which will draw a large crowd to the stadium.
Mr. Sirajuddin Alam, Co-owner of Bangla Tigers, says, “We have also invited thousands of Bangladeshi well-wishers to come to the UAE to watch and enjoy matches at the Abu Dhabi T10. We expect a few thousand Bangladeshis will travel from Bangladesh to the UAE for the Abu Dhabi T10. As a Bangladeshi-owned franchise team, we want to walk with our community as we move forward.”
Bangla Tigers opted to focus on big-hitting as their strategy for a chance to clutch the Abu Dhabi T10 Trophy, bringing in players with impressive batting skills. Thisara Pereira will be joined by world-class talent including six Bangladeshi players, few extremely talented names such as West Indies’ Andre Fletcher, South Africa’s Colin Ingram, and Australian James Faulkner.
Bangla Tigers have been drawn into the tournament’s Group A and will square off against Deccan Gladiators, Delhi Bulls and Karnataka Tuskers in what will be a tightly contested group.
The Tigers’ batsmen are ready to fight the incredible line-up of competitors set to explode Zayed Cricket Stadium from 15-24 November and will be looking to pounce against the Deccan Gladiators in their first match of the tournament which is on November 16.
The tournament is being showcased in Abu Dhabi for the first time following a strategic government partnership between the Department of Culture and Tourism, the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Abu Dhabi Cricket.
Tickets start from the special price of AED10 and will allow spectators to watch up to three matches a day.