At a media conference at the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club on Monday, the president of the Bengal Olympic Association (BOA), Paresh Mukherjee, announced that following a request from the Bangladesh Olympic Association, cricket has been included in the Games alongwith eight Olympic disciplines.
And the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has confirmed to the BOA that it will send an Under-22 team under the leadership of Soham Ghosh for the Indo-Bangla Games. The matches, to be played in the Twenty20 format, will be played at Chandu Stadium, Bogra and Rajshahi Stadium and the final at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
According to BOA, 215 participants, including a 48-member women’s contingent, will take part in athletics, soccer (men and women), basketball, kabaddi, kho-kho, shooting, swimming and volleyball. BOA joint-secretary Kamalesh Chatterjee said that prominent players like Rahamat-ullah, Rakhi Saha, Ranjita Roy (athletes), Jaydeep Banerjee, Chaya Adak (shooting), and Akbar Ali Mir (swimming) have confirmed their participation in the Games.
Bengal earned 38 gold medals and 34 silver medals in the Games last year while Bangladesh finished with 30 gold medals and 34 silver medals. The cricket team will leave for Dhaka on February 21 after completion of the ongoing CAB First Division league that ends this month. The other participating teams are scheduled to leave on February 20.