Sylhet-themed city branding takes over BPL opener

Bangla Press Desk:   In the early years of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), there was not much branding or marketing. Tournaments came and went in Dhaka, Chattogram or Sylhet, but they were hardly visible to the public eye. But on Friday in Sylhet, spectators coming in saw quite the opposite.

From the Sylhet airport to Ambarkhana, it was all BPL. Placards, posters and banners — all saying out loud — that the biggest domestic tournament of Bangladesh was being hosted by Sylhet.

The theme of the city branding was based on Sylhet itself. Hazrat Shahjalal (Rah.) Mazar Sharif, Ali Amjad’s Clock, Keane Bridge, Bholaganj Shada Pathor — all those tourist attractions were portrayed on big placards and posters around the stadium arena and along the main road outside the ground, which connects the airport and Ambarkhana.

“We wanted to create something new,” said a BCB official close to the development. “We planned to portray Sylhet and its iconic places. We managed to do that through city branding. Hopefully, we managed to do that,” he added.

“We had to overcome a lot of hassle to execute that. As you all know, the traffic from Dhaka was heavy over the last couple of days. So we had to work all night and all morning to get it up before the match started,” he explained.

BCB will look to implement the same theme in the Chattogram phase of the tournament, which will commence from January 5 to January 12.

“We will try to do the same thing in Chattogram as well. There are a lot of attractive and iconic places in that part of the country, so we will try to promote those through the BPL,” said the official.

A few hours later, the 12th edition of the BPL got underway with a minute’s silence held in memory of Osman Bin Hadi, an activist who was killed in a recent terrorist attack.

Players, match officials and Bangladesh Cricket Board executives observed the tribute ahead of the tournament opener between Sylhet Titans and Rajshahi Warriors at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim was also seen offering prayers during the observance.

Proceedings then continued with the national anthem, followed by a fireworks display launched from the roof of the media centre.

BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul officially inaugurated the tournament by releasing helium balloons, while thousands of colourful balloons were released around the boundary.

The BPL theme song echoed through the venue, prompting chants of “Sylhet! Sylhet!” from the spectators.

A cultural show featuring dance performances by artistes wearing the jerseys of all six franchises is scheduled after the match, before a 45-minute concert by Fuad Al Muqtadir precedes the second fixture of the day.

BP/SP