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BPL makes a splash at last

Pranabesh Chakraborty from ctg
The cash-rich enter-prise of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 was finally decorated with a full house during the opening matches of the tournament's Chittagong leg at the MA Aziz Stadium yesterday. The first two legs in Dhaka and Khulna were played out in front of largely empty stands.
Shahina Hamid waited in the long queue with her son and daughter to enter the gallery for over two hours. She entered the stadium at around 3pm when the match between the Sylhet Royals and the Chittagong Kings was almost halfway through, but still she delighted in the festive atmosphere of the full house.
“First I thought I would not be able to enter the gallery, but now I am feeling proud to have enjoyed the matches with the huge crowd,” added Shahina.
“In this urban life, our children have very little opportunity for entertainment”, she said.
“When my husband bought three tickets for us yesterday I felt elated as I never witnessed a live cricket match before,” said the housewife.
She expressed her hope that in the coming days more cricket matches would be held in Chittagong so that children and teenagers get the opportunity to
pass their leisure time with good entertainment.
Like Shahina, thousands of enthusiastic spectators had to wait in the queue outside the MA Aziz Stadium while thousands others enjoyed the first match from the stands.
Around 3pm, the spectator pressure was so high in the Eastern Gallery that the organisers had to open the gates to the club galleries, grand stands and the international stand. However, many spectators alleged that the organisers sold more tickets than the capacity of the ground.
AZM Nasir Uddin, venue chairman, also General Secretary of Chittagong Jela Krira Sangstha (CJKS) told The Daily Star that the cricket fans of the port city again proved that they know how to enjoy the game in the environment of a cricket ground.
Expressing his gratitude to the spectators especially to the young cricket fans, Nasir opined that the presence would again inspire all the partners and investors involved in the game and this will see the beginning of a new phase of BPL.
Nasir said, around 26,000 tickets were sold for the first day's matches.
Meanwhile, Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) sources said, CCC will distribute more than 8,000 tickets to the school students for the upcoming matches, spending money from its own fund.