Sylhet Divisional Stadium has been formally accredited by the International Cricket Council as an international venue, a Bangladesh Cricket Board official said on Friday.
The approval came following an inspection by ICC match referee Jeff Crowe on March 4. We got the approval yesterday [Thursday],’ said acting BCB chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury.
‘We had earlier applied for the international status of the ground. ICC sent Crowe after the application.’
Chowdhury said Sylhet is now eligible to host all three formats of the game – Test, one-day international and Twenty20 International.
‘Normally the ICC mentions it clearly if it wants to limit a venue to a particular format, but this time it did not say anything like this, so we can assume Sylhet is now qualified to host Test matches alongside T20s and ODIs.
The news came as huge boost for Sylhet, which is set to make its international debut with the ICC World Twenty20 this month. The ground will hosts six preliminary round matches of the men’s event and all the group matches of the women’s event.
When it hosts its first Test match it will become the country’s eighth Test venue.
-With New Age input
