The neighboring country India has been running ‘Celebrity Cricket League’ for several years. Taking a temporary break from professional work, the stars of the entertainment world hit the field with bat and ball. Now, for the first time in Bangladesh, an organization called Generation Next has organized the same competition.
The ‘Celebrity Cricket League (CCL)’, a cricket league organized with showbiz stars of Bangladesh, is going to be held at the Mirpur indoor stadium in the capital on September 28. Which will continue till September 30.
The organizers gave details about the event in a press conference at the capital’s Gulshan Club on Monday evening.
Bangladesh cricket’s first centurion Mehrab Hasan Opi, Next Generation Chairman Uttam Vanik, Director and CEO Mamudur Rahman, Celebrity Cricket League Bangladesh Co-Chairman Wasim Khan, team leaders of the participating teams and showbiz stars were present at the press conference.
This tournament arranged with 8 teams will fight in two groups. At the end of the group stage, four teams will play in the semi-finals and the two winners from among them will play in the final. The 8 teams are led by filmmakers Shihab Shaheen, Ghiyasuddin Salim, Salahuddin Lovelu, Dipankar Dipan, Mustafa Kamal Raj, Raihan Rafi, Sakal Ahmed and Chayanika Chowdhury. A total of 16 showbiz stars including actors and actresses, singers and models will play in each team.
In the press conference, Salahuddin Lovelu said, ‘Bangladesh will play in the Cricket World Cup. It is our pleasure. Hopefully, Bangladesh will win the World Cup. This is our attempt to energize the cricket team. It is very important to give emotional support to cricketers. We came together from that place of understanding. Winning or losing doesn’t matter here, participation matters. Hopefully, I can present a beautiful cricket game to the audience from the artists.’
Dipankar Dipan said, ‘CCL is a great event. We are participating in this as part of our craze for cricket. In addition, the national team of Bangladesh will play in the World Cup in the future. We are organizing this event to encourage them. Hope the whole event will be enjoyable.’
Ghiyas Uddin Salim said, ‘Actually enthusiasm is greater than playing cricket. We will all celebrate the game of bat-ball for a few days together. Winning or losing is not the point here. Our passion for cricket is here.’
Chayanika Chowdhury said, ‘It will be really nice to be able to enter the field with your team in such an event. This cricket match will be in eight teams. Favorite stars will play in each team. I hope this whole three-day event will be festive for everyone.’
Next Generation Private Limited as well as Wings Communication is the co-organizer of Bangladesh Celebrity Cricket League. The match will be telecasted live by T Sports Channel.
(05 Sep/LM/AJ)