Faruque Ahmed, head of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), stated that building a large stadium in Purbachal at this time would not be possible with a large budget.
The concept of naming a large stadium in Purbachal after the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was initiated by the BCB president Najmul Hassan Papon, who described it as a tremendous ambition.
“It was supposed to be a big stadium with two grounds. But at the moment, we won’t be able to make such a big budget for this stadium. So we decided to back out from the project,” Faruque said while visiting the stadium in Purbachal today.
But the BCB has a plan to use one ground for cricket at this moment.
“We will try to make adjustments to the original design and focusing on essential elements like playing fields. For the time being, we will start with one ground first and then will try to make the adjacent ground suitable for cricket. We’ll start the work very soon,” he added.
At a modest cost, BCB was able to secure a large stadium space from the overthrown government. The stadium was expected to cost Tk 900 crore. However, the budget skyrocketed to Tk. 1500 crore as a result of the increase in the cost of commodities.
The Populas consulting firm has already received Tk 76 crore from the board.
“We have already invested in this regard. It should be carried forward without making any major changes. Because you can’t do everything overnight,” he added.
“Firstly, we’ll build the playing field and dressing room. I haven’t seen the plan they had for the stadium. So I can’t comment on this now. We’ll try to build the ground and dressing by making adjustments with the main design.”
