DHAKA SUNDAY JANUARY 1, 2023, POUSH 17, 1429 BS

The maiden SAFF Women’s Championship title was undoubtedly the biggest success story from the sports arena for Bangladesh in 2022. In an otherwise success-deprived sporting atmosphere, the triumph of the women footballers galvanised the whole nation and set off massive celebrations across the country, which continued for days. It was also a rare moment of limelight for the nation’s football officials, who find it hard to grab headlines due to the decadence of football in general, and when they do, they often get it for the wrong reasons. Cricket, the nation’s most popular sport though, was always on focus, for reasons right and wrong. While there were a lot of controversies regarding cricketers and cricket administrations, the performance on the field was a bit of a respite, especially when compared to the lows which the sport had hit in the previous year. The year also saw the coming of age of players like Liton Das, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain, with Liton especially excelling as both a player and a leader. Other sports in the country did not generate too many talking points even though the successful floating of the first franchise hockey league in the country breathed fresh air into the sport and injected some much-needed financial incentive for the hockey players.