Bangladesh Cricket Continues to Benefit from Koko’s Player Pipeline: BCB
Bangladesh cricket continues to benefit from the structures and development initiatives established during the tenure of late Arafat Rahman Koko, BCB Media and Communications Committee Chairman Asif Rabbani said today.
Koko, who served as chairman of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) Game Development Committee from 2002 to 2005, was credited with laying the foundation for the country's modern player-development pipeline.
The High Performance (HP) Unit, which continues to strengthen Bangladesh's cricket pipeline, was among the initiatives attributed to Koko. He also pioneered a structured pathway for young cricketers through age-group levels such as Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19, while promoting the development of a reserve bench.
Koko also played a role in upgrading the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur and decentralizing cricket infrastructure beyond Dhaka.
"We have not been able to evaluate the contributions of many people in the last 17 years. You all know what the context was. Today, an opportunity has come before us. There is nothing new to say about the contribution of BCB man late Arafat Rahman Koko to cricket," Rabbani said.
The BCB observed Koko's 57th birth anniversary with a Milad and Doa Mahfil at the Media Center of the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur this evening. Senior BCB officials and employees attended the ceremony, where special prayers were offered for the departed soul. Rabbani said Bangladesh later reaped the benefits of the structures established during Koko's tenure, particularly in the development of young players.
"We have later received the benefits of the work done during that time, including the level at which BCB has reached today and the pipelines of young players that he created," he said.
He also highlighted Koko's contribution to regional and district-level cricket and his association with cricket infrastructure projects, including Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra.
According to Rabbani, the BCB has already kicked off work on renovating the Bogra venue and hopes to restore international cricket there within the next one and a half to two years.
"We have taken a plan to renovate the field and some work has already started. I hope it may not be possible within a year, but InshaAllah within one and a half to two years, we will be able to bring international cricket back there," he said.
Koko, the youngest son of BNP founder Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, was born on August 12, 1969. Koko, the younger brother of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman died of a heart attack in Kuala Lumpur on January 24, 2015, aged 45.
