On January 16, Bangladesh Premier League conducted their 17th match featuring Rajshahi Kings and Dhaka Dynamites at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Dynamites are at the table top by winning each of their four matches played in BPL 2019 whereas Rajshahi Kings are on the 5th position by winning just two out of their five matches.
Rajshahi Kings who will look for a win in their matchup with Dynamites has taken an unprecedented decision. In a beautiful gesture, Kings’ players wore jerseys with their mother’s name on the back of it.
The franchise took to Twitter and uploaded a picture, which showed members of the Rajshahi fraternity, holding jerseys, displaying their mothers’ name. Kings captioned the picture and wrote, “Rajshahi Kings are very proud to announce that they will bear their mother’s names in their jerseys in the match against Dhaka Dynamites at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.”
Rajshahi Kings are very proud to announce that they will bear their mother’s names in their jerseys in the match against Dhaka Dynamites at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.#Mother_HeartOfTheKings#জননীআমাররাণী pic.twitter.com/IqzUjxJJlb
— Rajshahi Kings (@RKingsOfficial) January 15, 2019
Team captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz said, “This will be a new experience for me. Of course to do something for our mothers will be very special for us. We want to win the match and dedicate it to our mothers.”
Vice-captain Soumya Sarkar added, “Of course it will be the first time in our country. We have always played with our own names or nicknames on our shirts, but now this would be something we did not think about. We always say we want to dedicate the match to our mothers, now this is the time we can truly show it. It is a chance for ourselves to make our mothers proud.”
Kings coach Lance Klusener urged everyone to remember their mother at least once a day. “My mother is a very special person, she is always the first person to ask me how my day was. I speak to her every day. Quite often we forget our mothers, we always worry about the people around us. I appeal to everybody, just speak to your mother at least once in a day and appreciate what she has done for you.”
Chief executive officer Tahmeed Azizul Huq sees the occasion as a chance to pay tribute to the mothers, “Mothers can inspire millions of people and it is no exception to the Kings. We consider this venture from us as a tribute to real backbones of our nation.”
ESPN’s cricket account also tweeted a photograph depicting Rajshahi players wearing jerseys with their mother’s name written on the back. “Rajshahi Kings’ players are wearing jerseys with their mothers’ names for their #BPL match against Dhaka Dynamites”, captioned by ESPNcricinfo.
Rajshahi Kings’ players are wearing jerseys with their mothers’ names for their #BPL match against Dhaka Dynamites https://t.co/dseX8PPvrP pic.twitter.com/0YqBYqWNJM
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) January 16, 2019
Earlier in October 2016, India players also sported jerseys having their mother’s name on the back of it for the fifth and final ODI against New Zealand at ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam. The Men in Blue won that match by a mammoth 190 runs to win the deciding match and the series.
