Sport in Bangladesh is popular and widespread. The most popular sport in Bangladesh is cricket, Bangladesh being the top 9th team in the world, followed by football (soccer), and kabaddi. Kabaddi is the national sport of Bangladesh.
Cricket:
Cricket is a game which has a massive and passionate following in Bangladesh. There is a strong domestic league which on many occasions also saw players from foreign countries gracing the cricket fields of Bangladesh. Bangladesh received it's test status from ICC in 2000, which is a requirement for the countries to play Test cricket. The Bangladesh national cricket team's official logo is Royal Bengal Tiger, by which they are often referred at media. The cricketing culture is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. Similar to other subcontinental countries, the game itself was first introduced to the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta region by the British rulers nearly two centuries ago. For the better part of the British rule, cricket remained a recreational game for the aristocrats, inaccessible to the common people because of colonial class distinctions and the complicated nature of the game which the locals were not able to comprehend easily. Following the liberation war which ended in Bangladesh gaining independence in 1971, cricketing popularity has continued to grow. The Bangladesh Cricket team is coached by Australian Jamie Siddons. Often criticized for their poor performances, Bangladesh most recently enjoyed a good run of form, defeating New Zealand 4-0 in a 5 match ODI series held in Mirpur, Dhaka. Bangladesh will also be one of the hosts of the 2011 Cricket World Cup. They currently hold 8th spot in the ODI and Test ICC world rankings.
Football:
Football is popular in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is currently ranked 150th in the FIFA ranking. Bangladesh became the 2003 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) champion. SAFF includes Southern Asian countries and other countries from Asia. The Bangladesh national football team is controlled by the national governing body, the Bangladesh Football Federation, which is a member of the AFC. The side has yet to qualify for a FIFA World Cup tournament. They were eliminated in the first round of their only Asian Cup appearance to date in 1980. As is the case elsewhere on the subcontinent, the national football team stands somewhat in the shadow of the country's Test cricket team. The team was founded in 1972, and joined FIFA in 1974. Apart from wins over Indonesia and Thailand in their first ever World Cup qualification in 1986, Bangladesh has struggled to impose itself. At the regional level, they have also remained in the second echelon while in Asia, the team is constantly trying to avoid being the wooden spoon of their group. Football in Bangladesh has a huge following which was exemplified when the national team made history in their victory at the South Asian Football Federation Cup in 2003. The South Asia side won the final via penalties over Maldives before 50,000 home supporters. Kazi Salahuddin is Bangladesh's most famous footballer, having played professional football in Hong Kong, the first Bangldeshi player to ever do so. Another famous player is Chingla Mong Chowdhury Murruy. He is a renowned soccer personality in Bangladesh. He used to play before the liberation war. He coached BRTC, was an assistant coach for BKSP. He also received his national award in football. He fought in the Liberation War in 1971 for his country.
Kabaddi in Bangladesh:
Kabaddi is a team game. Two teams of seven players occupy opposite halves of a field of 12.5m x 10m divided by a line into two halves. The teams take turns sending a raider across to the opposite team's half, where the goal is to tag or wrestle members of the opposite team before returning to the home half. Tagged members are "out" and are sent off the field. The raider must not take a breath during the raid, and must prove it by constantly chanting during the raid. Meanwhile, the defenders must form a chain, for example by linking hands; if the chain is broken, a member of the defending team is sent off. The goal of the defenders is to stop the raider from returning to the home side before taking a breath. In 1980, Bangladesh became the runners-up in the first Asian Kabaddi Championship and India emerged as the champion. Bangladesh became runners-up again in the next Asian Kabaddi Championship held in 1985 at Jaipur, India.Bangladeshi kabaddi team won the bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Games.
Rugby union: Rugby union in Bangladesh is a minor but growing sport. Rugby had little or no presence from the period of independence from Britain, and thence from Pakistan. However, in 2007, after a long period of dormancy, some Japanese coaches started a youth programme. Amongst the schools which sent under-12s to the training camp were the Sunbeams, the Sunnydale, MarieCurieSchool, The Agha Khan School, Playpan, Reading, Green James, KhilgaonOxfordSchool, Dhanmondi Boys' High School, KhilgaonModelSchool and EastKhilgaonPrimary School.The Bangladeshi Rugby Association has been training these children in order to start an inter-schools tournament.
Shooting: Bangladesh has won all its medals in the in the Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games and South Asian Games. There key shooter is Asif Hossain Khan, who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth games represents them at the games.
Traditional sports:
Traditional Sports of Bangladesh are still practiced mostly in rural areas. All are not equally favourite now because of the invasion of western games. Hadudu (kabaddi) is the only internationally recognized traditional sport of Bangladesh. Besides dariabandha, gollachut, satchara, borofpani, birinchi, kutkut, kanamachi, tillo, Sologuti, Bagh-chagol, Ful-toka etc are still popular in sub-urban and rural areas.
Sports Clubs:
Sport clubs have a significant contribution to the development of sports in the country. Prominent among the clubs of Bangladesh are Abahani (Dhaka), Mohammedan Sporting Club (Dhaka), Muktijoddha Sangsad KS, Brothers Union, Brothers Union, Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting, Dhaka Wanderers, Dilkusha Sporting, GMCC, Kalabagan, Muktijoddha Sangsad, Rahmatganj, Suryatarun, Victoria Sporting, and Wari. Some of these clubs are reputed for their glorious past while others earned a name by excellent performance at national level at present.
Abahani (Dhaka):
In the 20 years between 1973 and 1993, Abahani played 16 times in the finals of the national football league. It finished as champion eight times and as runner up on as many occasions . The club was champion in the Federation Cup Football and runner up . In the Asia Cup Club Tournament held in 1985 in Sri Lanka, Abahani was the runner up and it was Champion in the Nagji Trophy Football Tournament held in India in 1990. Abahani Ltd. also holds the honor to win the Champions trophy of the first ever professional football league B.League 2007 in Bangladesh football history. They have also won the second ever B. League Tournament. Famous football players e.g. Kazi Salahuddin, Chunnu, Nizam, Tutul, Aslam, Nannu, Helal, Pakir Ali once played for this club and converted this club to be one of the best football club in South Asia.
Abahani (Chittagong):
Abahani Limited is a sports club in Bangladesh. It was established at Dhaka in 1972 through reorganisation of Iqbal Sporting Club. Within a short time, the club gained fame through commendable performances in hockey, cricket and football tournaments.
Arambag Club:
Arambag Club was established in Dhaka in 1958. It was at first a football club, but later became active in other games like handball, basketball and volleyball. The club has had continued success in different tournaments. It became champion in the 4th and 5th Shital Women's Handball competitions. In 1980, it was champion in the Alpha Cup Football Tournament of Nepal and, in 1995, runner up in the eighth Chief Minister Gold Cup Football Tournament of Sikkim and in the Nagji Gold Cup Tournament of India. In 1997, the club took part in a football tournament at Agartala that marked the golden jubilee of the independence of India. In the same year, it became runner up at home in the Federation Cup Football Tournament.
Brothers Union Club:
Brothers Union Club was established at Gopibag, Dhaka in 1949. The club, however, remained little known until 1973, when it first appeared in the third division football league and became its champion of that league. The next year, it played in the second division football league and as the champion of the season, it was promoted to the first division. Ever since the club has had continued success and, in course of time, it became the third most powerful football club of the country next to Abahani and Mohammedan. Brothers Union also performs well in cricket, chess and handball. In 2004 and 2005 they became champion in senior division football league. Football lovers really want their beloved orange dream team to be the number one again in 2006.
Feni Club:
Feni Soccer Club is a football club from Feni, Bangladesh. It is a team playing in the Bangladesh League, the top-tier league of the country. They are based at Feni but has their home ground at Bangladesh Army Stadium in Dhaka. All player is local
Mohammedan Sporting Club (Dhaka) The club clinched the football league championship title 15 times between 1957 and 1999 and during the same period, it was runners up 12 times. It was champion in the Dhaka Metropolitan Football League (in 1993) and in the Independence Cup Football Tournament (5 times, between 1957 and 1966). The club is five times champion in the Federation Cup Football. It became champion in the Ashis-Jabbar Shield Tournament held in Durgapur of West Bengal in 1982. In the international football tournaments held in Dhaka, it was champion in 1959, 1964 and 1968 and runner up in 1966, 1967 and 1976. They were once coached by Iranian superstar Nasser Hejazi.
Muktijoddha Club:
Muktijoddha SangsadKS is a football club in Bangladesh. It is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. They won the 1994 and 2003 Bangladesh Federation Cup. They also got into the Asian Club Championship and the AFC Cup as well as Asian Cup Winners Cup
