Bangladesh is a South Asian country bordered by Burma and India. It has a great love of sports and is their main form of entertainment. The traditional sport on the Bangladeshi culture is called Kabaddi which is a contact sport that originated from India. It is a great pastime and was even used by the British Army both for fun and to recruit soldiers from the Asian communities.

Recently, though, Bangladesh has come to love playing cricket, which has gained national notoriety. The popularity of cricket started when the Bangladesh national cricket team took the ICCP Trophy in 1997 which then made them qualify for the 1999 Cricket World Cup, which was mostly held in England. In 2011, Bangladesh co-hosted the Cricket World Cup along with Sri Lanka and India.

Other popular games in Bangladesh include football, hockey and even chess. As a matter of fact, Bangladesh has produced many of the world's best chess players like Niaz Murshed, the first grandmaster out of South Asia (1987).

Although Bangladesh has participated in all seven Summer Olympic Games since 1984, sadly, they have never won any medals. It is one of the most populous countries that are yet to receive a single Olympic victory. The country participated at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but did not win any medal at the end of the competition.

Below are details of sports, sporting events and sports people related to Bangladesh. Is there something missing? If you know of something that should be listed here, please let us know.

Popular sports of Bangladesh

  • Cricket, Football (soccer), Hockey (field), Kabaddi, Badminton, Table Tennis, Athletics, Boxing, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Shooting, Golf

Traditional or Regional Sports

  • Kabaddi — a "raider" enters the opposite team's half to tag opponents without taking a breath.
  • Boli Khela — a full contact combat sport in which the fighters use techniques like clinching, throwing, joint locking, pinning holds, and several other grappling holds.

Bangladesh Sporting Success

  • Champions of the South Asian women's football
  • Bangladesh's men national football team won the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship in 2003

Great athletes from Bangladesh

  • Zobera Rahman Linu - 16 time winner of the national table tennis championship
  • Niaz Murshed - First South Asian to earn chess Grandmaster title
  • Mushfiqur Rahim - First wicketkeeper-batsman to score two test doubles centuries
  • Shakib Al Hasan - The first cricketer ever to be ranked No. 1 all-rounder in all formats by ICC
  • Ali Jacko - The first Asian to win world lightweight kickboxing title
  • Shohag Gazi - The first player to score a century and take a hat-trick in the same Test match
  • Mashrafe Mortaza - He is a Bangladeshi cricketer and former captain of the national team.
  • Tamim Iqbal - He is also a Bangladeshi cricketer and former captain of the national team. Tamim is the first Bangladeshi batsman to score a double century in Test cricket and is the highest run-scorer for Bangladesh in all formats of the game.

Bangladesh Sports trivia

  • Bangladesh is the most populous country to never win an Olympic medal.

Bangladesh at major events

Past sporting events hosted in Bangladesh

Upcoming sporting events in Bangladesh

Annual sporting events held in Bangladesh

  • The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) - This is the most popular cricket tournament in the country, and it is held every year.
  • The Bangladesh Football Premier League (BFPL)
  • The Bangladesh Kabaddi Premier League (BKPL)
  • The Bangladesh Hockey Premier League (BHPL)
  • The Bangladesh Badminton Premier League (BBPL)
  • The Bangladesh Athletics Premier League (BAPL)

Sporting Facilities in Bangladesh

  • Bangabandhu National Stadium
  • Sher E Bangla National Stadium
  • Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium
  • Singair Stadium

Is there something missing? If you know of something that should be listed here, please let me know.