Sport in Bangladesh

rdf:langString Sport in Bangladesh

rdf:langString Sport in Bangladesh is a popular form of entertainment as well as an essential part of Bangladeshi culture. Cricket is the most popular sport in Bangladesh followed by Football. Ha-du-du is the national sport of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the top 10 cricketing nation of the world and have regularly qualified for World cup since 1999, the Country achieved arguably their greatest heights in Cricket when they defeated three of top-rated teams in 2015 Cricket World Cup to qualify for the quarterfinals. In 2015, they white-washed Pakistan and clinched the series by 3-0 and in another major achievement they won a series against India by 2-1 and in the same year they beat South Africa 2–1 in an ODI series and cemented their spot in Champions Trophy 2017. While in football, Bangladesh are only the second team from South Asia to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup (1980). The country's greatest success in football was their 2003 SAFF Championship triumph along with winning gold at the 1999 South Asian Games. Traditional sports like Athletics, Swimming, Ha-du-du, Boli Khela, Lathi Khela are mostly played in the rural areas while foreign sports like hockey, volleyball, handball, golf etc. are more popular among the urban folks. The National Sports Council (NSC) is the governing body to control all the sports federations and councils in the country and is responsible to the ministry of youth and sports. There are a total of 42 different sports federations affiliated with the NSC. Bangladesh Games is the largest domestic multi-sport tournament in the country where athletes and sports teams from all the districts participate.