Sheikh Hasina Stadium to be completed in 30 months

The construction of the Sheikh Hasina Cricket Stadium in the city's Purbachal will be completed within 30 months from the start of work.

Two Australian companies were initially selected by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and Populus Architecture was chosen from there.

The other firm was Cox Architecture. Both companies have experience in building the world's largest stadiums.

The construction work of the stadiums of the Olympics and football World Cup has been done by those two companies. BCB finalises Populous after scrutinising everything.

The board approved the agreement with Populous Architecture in its seventh Executive Committee meeting yesterday. The BCB now will complete the formalities of the contract and thereafter the construction of the stadium within six months.

"We have finalized the construction of Sheikh Hasina International Stadium. Populus has been given the responsibility. That we'll give them the responsibility is approved in the board today. We will have a deal with them. We are ready, documents are ready. The deal will be done any day. They have to start work within six months of the contract," BCB Cricket Operations Chairman Jalal Younus said on Sunday.

BCB chief executive Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said, "There is a timeline for the drawing design. We are expecting to start the work within six months. But before that we will try to start the work. We want to move as fast as possible."

"We have a timeline of 30 months from the time of signing the contract. This is how it is done. In the meantime, efforts will be made to finish the work," the CEO added.

The operation of the stadium started in 2018. The boat-like design was released in 2019. But so far there is no visible progress. Although the goal was to prepare the stadium in 2023, it is not possible at this time.

Bangladesh will host the Women's T20 World Cup in 2024. BCB president Nazmul Hasan Papon expressed his desire to host the final match at the Sheikh Hasina Stadium.