Photo: Collected
Md. Imrul Hasan, director of ABG Sports City, declared the ‘ABG University Cup 2026’ cricket tournament open on Sunday afternoon (25 October) by releasing balloons and pigeons. The curtain went up on the competition amid a festive ceremony at Anvir Cricket Stadium.
The biggest draw of the opening day was the presence of two former stars of the Bangladesh national cricket team, Mohammad Rafique and Mohammad Ashraful. Once the formalities were over, Sonargaon University and American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) took the field in the tournament’s first match.
Sonargaon University Pro-VC Bulbul Ahmed, Bashundhara Group Media Adviser Abdul Bari, ABG Sports City advisers Biddut Kumar Bhowmik, Md. Liakat Hossain, Md. Nazmul Alam Bhuiyan, Mahbubur Rahman, and T Sports Executive Director Tasvir Ul Islam attended the opening ceremony. Among many others present was ABG Sports City Senior GM Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Soyeb Shafiq (retd.). Representatives of various universities, teachers and students, and senior officials of Bashundhara Group and ABG Sports City were also in attendance.
Students of both universities turned out spontaneously for the first match, which effectively set off the real battle for the title. The organisers expect the competitive matches among the participating universities throughout the tournament to offer spectators added excitement and appeal.
The tournament is organised by ABG Sports City. Its main aims are to give university students a platform to showcase their cricketing talent, encourage them to take up competitive sport, and strengthen harmony and ties among students of different educational institutions. According to the organisers, the tournament will also play an important role in sparking young people’s interest in sports and in discovering future talent for the country’s sporting arena.
This edition of the ABG University Cup 2026 has added a unique dimension to spreading sports at the university level across the country and to fostering harmony between universities.
