Lovingly Khulna

If you are in Khulna and wishing to enjoy a cricket match, you are perhaps in the best place of Bangladesh. The venue Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, located on the Khan A Sabur Road, may not be as big as that of Dhaka's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, but it's not just a concrete structure in the middle of a locality.

It you look beyond the greens in the middle, you will still find yourself surrounded by bigger greens with a lot of trees winking above the one-storey public stands. The wicket is a batting paradise and it is considered one of the luckiest grounds for the Tigers, who have created a small piece of history by winning a draw against Pakistan in the first Test on Saturday.

But the biggest strength of Khulna is that it helps people, sick and tired of living in those bustling cities of Dhaka or Chittagong, to enjoy a refreshingly laid-back life in a tranquil environment. For someone who wants to go to Mirpur to enjoy a cricket game, the biggest concern is how early he has to start from home to get there on time.

But if you are anywhere in Khulna and want to watch a game, you will never be late because it's a city where traffic jam is almost non-existent. It took 10 minutes for this yours truly to reach the stadium from Royal Hotel on the first day of the Bangladesh-Pakistan Test. And believe it or not the time-frame never varied till the fifth and final day.

People here are never in a hurry. You will hardly find a rickshaw-puller paddling fast or riding down the wrong lane. During the last five days of the Test match, festivity gripped the city and everybody looked enjoying even after the day's proceedings have finished. A concert has been arranged at the Royal intersection where a lot of family with their children turned up to enjoy their time at night. But not a single unwanted incident took place there. The kitchen markets in Dhaka sell frozen fish at night. But pay a visit to the famous sandho bazar (dusk market) in Khulna and you will be amazed to see fresh fishes all around.

Khulna may not be a popular destination for the tourists, but anyone who wants to take the trouble of a two-hour bus ride from Jessore, where the nearest airport is located, a full value of pure enjoyment is guaranteed.