The MA Aziz Stadium ( bn, এম এ আজিজ স্টেডিয়াম; also known as Chittagong Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in ...

, Bangladesh. The local

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

teams play there and it is sometimes used by the

Bangladesh national football team The Bangladesh national football team ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় ফুটবল দল) is the national recognised football team of Bangladesh and is controlled by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). It is a member ...

. Its total capacity is 40,000. On a historical note, this stadium was used as headquarters during the war for independence in 1971. The stadium serves as the main football venue of Chittagong as main cricket venue of the port city has been shifted to the

Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium) ( bn, জহুর আহমেদ চৌধুরী স্টেডিয়াম), abbreviated as ZAC Stadium or ZACS and previously known as Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadi ...

. It is the home venue of

Chittagong Abahani Chittagong Abahani Limited ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম আবাহনী লিমিটেড), also spelled as Chattogram Abahani or Chittagong Abahoni, is a sports club based in Chittagong, Bangladesh. A wing of Abahani Limited wa ...

Bangladesh Premier League (football) The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), officially known as TVS Bangladesh Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a top tier of Bangladeshi professional football league pyramid. It is run directly by the professional football league committee o ...

. Since 2015, the stadium is hosting Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup, country’s only international club football tournament organised by Chittagong Abahani.

History

On 1 January 1955 Indian team led by

Vinoo Mankad Mulvantrai Himmatlal "Vinoo" Mankad (; 12 April 1917 – 21 August 1978) was an Indian cricketer who appeared in 44 Test matches for India between 1946 and 1959. He was best known for his world record setting opening partnership of 413 runs wi ...

came to play in the newly built stadium. Their opponents were East Pakistan Sports Federation. Then the stadium was called Niaz Stadium, after the name of District Administrator of that time who helped to build it. Then the name of the mountain covered aria was Jongli Polton. Later it was changed. After the Mankad's team the stadium welcomed

Donald Carr Donald Bryce Carr OBE (28 December 1926 – 12 June 2016) was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the so ...

of MCC. MCC also came once more after the

war of liberation Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separa ...

. In 1976–77 the name of the stadium was changed to ''Chattagram Jilla Krira Porishod'' (Chittagong District Sports Organization) stadium. It was under the PG of that district.

The stadium became the centre of Chittagong's sports over the years. In 1957–58 Chittagong Commerce College met Jogonnath College at the final of the Inter College Cricket. Chittagong team was runners up. At the outer part of the stadium Star Jubo and Star Summer tournaments were also held.

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = Ea ...

also came to play. In the 1980s cricket started to be influenced by Asgar, Abedin and Ispahani family. Many of the

National Team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

cricketers like

Minhajul Abedin Minhajul Abedin Nannu ( bn, মিনহাজুল আবেদিন নান্নু; born 25 September 1965) is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 27 One Day Internationals from 1986 to 1999. He captained Bangladesh twice duri ...

, Akram Khan, Shaheedur Rahman and Nurul Abedin started their careers here. Later tournaments like Star Jubo and Star Summer had stopped. The first

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) took place back on 27 October 1988 during the

1988 Asia Cup The 1988 Asia Cup (also known as the Wills Asia Cup) was the third Asia Cup tournament, held in Bangladesh between 26 October and 4 November 1988. Four teams took part in the tournament: India national cricket team, India, Pakistan national cri ...

. Bangladesh's opponent was

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in those two matches. Bangladesh lost the matches by 9 wickets and 173 runs respectively. Bangladesh played 7

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

and 8 ODIs so far at this ground. The stadium made a debut as the 82nd test venue on 15 November 2001 with the Test match between Bangladesh and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. The venue has also hosted group stage matches of

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Under-19 Cricket World Cup The ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup is an international cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) contested by national under-19 teams. First contested in 1988, as the Youth World Cup, it was not staged again ...

matches. The stadium is the main

venue of

port city A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

, it hosted matches during the

2006 AFC Challenge Cup The 2006 AFC Challenge Cup was held between 1 and 16 April 2006 in Bangladesh. Sixteen teams were split into four groups, the top two in each group qualifying for the quarterfinals, and from then on a straight knockout contest. There was no quali ...

and is also a regulars venue for the

Chittagong Football League Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

Stats and records

The venue has hosted * Test Matches – 8 *

– 10 *

T20I A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

– 0 * The venue hosted 1st ever International ODI match in Bangladesh in 1988. The match was between

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

. * The venue became only 2nd test venue in Bangladesh in 2005. The first being

Bangabandhu National Stadium Bangabandhu National Stadium ( bn, বঙ্গবন্ধু জাতীয় স্টেডিয়াম, ''romanised: Bongobondhu jateeyo stediyaam''), also known as Dhaka Stadium, and formerly known as Dacca Stadium, is the national s ...

. * In January 2005, when

Zimbabwe national cricket team The Zimbabwe national cricket team, also known as the Chevrons, represents Zimbabwe in men's international cricket and is overseen by Zimbabwe Cricket (formerly known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union). Zimbabwe has been a Full Member of the Intern ...

toured to Bangladesh, In the first test

won their first ever test match in their 35 test match at this venue.

defeated

by 226 runs.

BPL 2013

After a long time the M. A. Aziz Stadium hosted cricket matches of the second edition of

Bangladesh Premier League The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ প্রিমিয়ার লীগ) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league consisting of seven franchises. The BPL is one of the three professional cricket leagues in ...

, along with Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...

and

Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, ( bn, শেখ আবু নাসের স্টেডিয়াম) previously known as Bir Shrestha Shahid Flight Lieutenant Motiur Rahman Stadium is a Test cricket venue in Khulna, Bangladesh. History Khulna, ...

Khulna Khulna ( bn, খুলনা, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of Khulna District and Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 ...

. Home team

Chittagong Kings The Chattogram Challengers ( Chittagonian/ bn, চট্টগ্রাম চ্যালেঞ্জার্স) is a franchise cricket team which participates in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The franchise was founded in 2012 & based ...

played 4 matches here. 10 matches were played from 25 January to 2 February 2013. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Outer Stadium

Immediately east of MA Aziz Stadium lies Outer Stadium. Owned by the Bangladesh Army, it is on a 99-year lease to the Chittagong District Sports Association (''Chattagram Jila Krira Sangstha'' or CJKS). By 2012, Outer Stadium was almost never being used for sports, instead being used to host various fairs. The Chattogram Zila Krira Sangstha Swimming Complex opened in 2019 on one acre of the site. In 2020, only one corner of the remaining ground could be used for batting and bowling practice. The rest of the field was described by bdnews24.com as an overgrown, waterlogged dump, "unusable for sports" because of chronic neglect and lack of maintenance.

References

External links