Shawdesh Desk:

The international cricket matches are going to be held in Rajshahi city within the near future after a long 13-year gap.

In the matches scheduled to be held from May 11, the hosts Bangladesh U 19 cricket team will face its Pakistan counterpart at Shaheed AHM Kamaruzzaman Divisional Stadium.

Arefin Islam, Rajshahi Venue Manager of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), said three one-day international (ODI) matches between the two teams will be held on May 11, 13, and 15, while the only T-20 match on May 17 here.

He also said all sorts of necessary preparations centering the cricket series were already completed.

Arefin also said an unofficial Test, five ODIs and one T20 match will be held against the Bangladesh U-19 team in this tour.

The Pakistan U-19 team will come directly to Dhaka and then go to Chittagong. The only Test and the first two ODI matches of the tour will be played at Zahoor Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.

Shahid Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi has been selected as the venue for the remaining three ODI matches and the only T20.

Khaled Masood Pilot, the former captain of the Bangladesh National Cricket team, said that there was no international match in Rajshahi for many years.

At least a new chapter will begin when the Under-18, 19 games are played. It will be very good for Rajshahi Cricket Stadium. Rajshahi and Rajshahi players will once again be promoted in international cricket.

Masood Pilot said the Shahid AHM Kamaruzzaman Divisional Stadium is one of the biggest cricket venues in the country’s northwest region but has been neglected for long.

National and international cricket stars have played here for various teams and clubs, but there has been no international cricket competition for many years.

Shahid AHM Kamaruzzaman Divisional Stadium was built in 2004 with a capacity of 15,000. The stadium hosted three group stage matches of the 2004 U-19 Cricket World Cup and lastly four matches of the 2010 South

Asian Games.

After that, international matches were stopped due to the lack of only three-star or five-star hotels in Rajshahi. It also lost the status of test venue.

After a long era, no more international cricket matches were played on the field of Rajshahi. Currently, due to the development of the housing system, international cricket is going to be played in the divisional stadium named after AHM Kamaruzzaman, one of the four national leaders.