Sheikh Hasina International Cricket Stadium ( bn, শেখ হাসিনা আন্তর্জাতিক ক্রিকেট স্টেডিয়াম) or The Boat is an under-construction cricket stadium located in Sector-1 of multi-billion dollar

Purbachal New Town Purbachal New Town Project or formerly Purbachal Residential Model Town is the biggest planned township in Bangladesh. The project area consists of about 6,227 acres (25 square kilometer) land located in between the Shitalakhya and the Balu Ri ...

on the outskirts of

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

, Bangladesh. The stadium is a joint venture of

National Sports Council The National Sports Council (NSC) is the national overseer of the control authorities of 41 different sports in Bangladesh. It is responsible to the Bangladesh Ministry of Youth and Sports and is based in Purana Paltan, Dhaka Dhaka ( or ...

and Bangladesh Cricket Board. Planned to open in 2026, the stadium will serve as the headquarter of Bangladesh Cricket Board, home to

Bangladesh national cricket team The Bangladesh men's national cricket team ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় ক্রিকেট দল), popularly known as The Tigers, is administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It is a Full Member of the Inte ...

and Dhaka franchise of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Overview

SHICS will be developed as a multi-function area. After the inauguration of the stadium, Bangladesh Cricket Board will shift its headquarter to this venue from

Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium The Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS; bn, শের-ই-বাংলা জাতীয় ক্রিকেট স্টেডিয়াম), also called Mirpur Stadium, is an International cricket ground in Mirpur, a few kilo ...

. Other than a cricket stadium, the complex will also have indoor sports and water sports facilities. Other than the sports facilities, transit-oriented development with a

five-star hotel Hotel ratings are often used to classify hotels according to their quality. From the initial purpose of informing travellers on basic facilities that can be expected, the objectives of hotel rating have expanded into a focus on the hotel experie ...

would be developed in the stadium area. An outer stadium with a capacity of at least 2,500 spectators will also be developed which can be used for art performances besides sports. The stadium is being constructed in Sector I of

, in close proximity to multi-billion dollars Iconic City development project. The stadium will have five-storied

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

, 3-tier stands with a capacity of 50,000, and the option to add at least 25,000 additional seats. The budget for the development of the stadium is estimated at 1300-crores ($140 million), making it the most expensive cricket stadium in Asia. From the budget, 37 crores were allocated towards the development of a separate practice facility for

. In April 2023, BCB also expressed its view to accommodate five other sports federations of the country on the premise of this venue.

Development

The venue is located in about of land east of Turag River at Purbachal Express Highway. Groundbreaking of the stadium began in November 2019 and is expected to be completed by December 2022. Upon completion in 2022, The stadium will become the third largest-ever cricket stadium in terms of capacity, and the most expensive cricket stadium in Asia. In August 2019, Bangladesh Cricket Board released a notice of ''Expression of Interest'' (EOI), inviting consultancy firms to submit detailed designs and construction plans for the stadium. But the designing and construction process was delayed due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In October 2022, Australia based architectural firm Populous was awarded the contract to design and build the stadium in a 30-months timeframe. In April 2023, it was reported that BCB sent a letter to

National Board of Revenue The National Board of Revenue (NBR) ( bn, জাতীয় রাজস্ব বোর্ড) is the Central Authority for Tax Administration in Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a countr ...

seeking custom duties and tax exemptions on the construction materials and all types of expenses related to this project.

References

{{Portal bar, Asia, Bangladesh, Cricket, Architecture Purbachal Cricket grounds in Bangladesh Sport in Dhaka

Overview

Development

See also

References