Bangabandhu National Stadium – stadium description

When planned in early 1950s, it was to be the country’s (not even independent then) national stadium for cricket, with a separate one for football being built just several feet next to it. Both of them stand in Dhaka’s strict centre, now becoming surrounded by numerous skyscrapers.

Since opening in 1954 their roles have switched. The football ground became Bangladesh’s national field hockey stadium with two pitches fitted inside. The larger one for cricket took over as national for both football and athletic events. Nowadays football became its prevalent use with four clubs from the capital playing here, not mentioning the national side.

Over the years it was subject to numerous redevelopments, but they usually covered only parts of the oval bowl, resulting in diversified designs of certain sections. It wasn’t until 2010 that the stadium received a major overhaul, becoming an all-seater, losing some of the massive fences (seen below, as photos show it at the beginning of works) and getting completely new VIP and press spaces, along with partial cover.

This was an attempt to prepare the ground for its first major tournament – 2011 Cricket World Cup. Opening ceremony took place here and was highly ranked despite fears over preparations.

The name Bangabandhu refers to sheikh Majibur Rahman, called the “Friend of Bengal” (in Bengal: Bangabandhu).