Int'l gallery of Khulna Stadium named after Rana

FE Team | Published: December 01, 2012 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

KHULNA, Nov 30 (UNB): Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Friday formally named the International Gallery (West) of the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium here as 'Manzarul Islam Rana Stand' after the national cricketer who was killed in a road accident in Khulna on March 16 in 2007.
All-rounder cum left-arm spinner Qazi Manzarul Islam Rana, also a player of Khulna Division, who played six Tests and 25 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for Bangladesh between 2003-04 and 2005-06, was the youngest Test cricketer to die at the age of 22.
Newly appointed BCB President Nazmul Hasan Papon, MP made the announcement from a press conference at the conference room of the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium during the break after the first innings of the Bangladesh-West Indies first ODI match Friday.
Announcing the name of the stand, the BCB President said: "We will not get Manzarul back, but this is our humble effort to associate his name with this Stadium forever in recognition of his contribution to Bangladesh Cricket."
Jamila Khatun, mother of late Manzarul Islam Rana, who was also present on the occasion, said: "My son was someone who was a pride for Bangladesh and Khulna. From the day he passed away, people of Khulna demanded from their heart for naming a stand at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium after him."
"Today, I'm very happy to see that dream fulfilled and I like to thank the BCB President, the Board members and the media," she added.
BCB ad-hoc committee members Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu, Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan, Naimur Rahman Durjoy, Akram Hossain, and national selectors Minhazul Abedin Nannu and Habibul Bashar Sumon were also present on the occasion.
The BCB President assured the mother of Rana to name a stadium gallery after her son while he visited the Qazi Bari residence of late Manzarul Islam Rana during the lunch break on the first day of Bangladesh-West Indies 2nd Test match on November 21.
A gallery of the country's newest and the 7th Test venue-Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium of Khulna-has been named after late Qazi Manzarul Islam Rana to fulfill the long time demand of the people of Khulna.
Left-arm spinner Manzarul Islam Rana made his ODI debut in November 2003 at the age of 19 and took the wicket of Michael Vaughan with his third ball, the first time any Bangladesh player had taken a wicket in his first international over.
He made his Test debut at Harare in 2003-04 but did not impress, and had been sidelined since the series against India in December 2004.
Rana's best performances in the one-day format were a brace of four-wicket hauls, both Man-of-the-Match winning performances, to help level the series against Zimbabwe in January 2005.