The Sylhet International Cricket Stadium is all set to host its maiden Bangladesh match at the venue. The Tigers will take on Sri Lanka in the second and final T20I at SICS Sunday to mark Bangladesh's first international game at the venue.
Although there are no banners or festoons in the roads leading upto the venue, the stadium authority has made special arrangements to mark the occasion. The toss prior to the match will take place with a special coin while the two teams will be accorded a grand reception with the participation of school students. The players and chief guests will also be presented with memorabilia.
Established in 2007, the venue is surrounded by hills and has a scenic view of the tea gardens. The venue underwent expansion in 2013 in order to host matches of the 2014 World T20 and 2014 Women's World T20.
During the ICC event, the SICS had hosted qualifying round matches involving Zimbabwe, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UAE while all the women's 24 group stage matches were held here. However, this was pretty much it as far as hosting international matches are concerned.
Following expansion work, the venue, with a capacity of 18,500 regularly hosts domestic cricket and at times, matches of the BCB High Performance Unit and Bangladesh A team. In 2017, the venue hosted the first phase of the Bangladesh Premier League T20 and got praised for its sporting wickets.
And after the BPL, the cricket fanatics in the city located in the northeastern part of the country were eagerly waiting to see their beloved Bangladesh team in action. They got their wish fulfilled and too, within only three months.
Boasting international standard facilities, the venue has good infrastructure and is widely labelled as the most picturesque stadium of the country. With everything in place, the venue should have hosted more international cricket. However, as it is, the Bangladesh Cricket Board does not usually come out from its typical tendency of hosting as many cricket matches as possible in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Sri Lanka head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who was previously the Bangladesh coach for more than three years, during the pre-match press conference informed of being surprised at not coming to this venue before.
After finally getting the opportunity to host Bangladesh, the SICS will be hoping for the BCB to make serious considerations so that the venue gets Test and ODI status soon.
Development in the indoor training facility and nets outside the main field are perhaps the only two requirements still to be met before the venue emerges as the perfect international host.
