Bangabandhu Cup Cup kabaddi tournament three times champion Bangladesh. Tuhin Tarafdar led the Red-Green team to achieve a hat-trick of championships. However, in the fourth season, he is not playing in this interesting tournament of his own court! Despite being asked by the federation to join the national team, the Navy player has stayed away by declaring ‘voluntary retirement’.
6 teams participated in the first edition of the Bangabandhu Cup. 8 teams participated in the second season in 2022 and 12 teams last year. Bangladesh is the champion of the last three seasons. Kenya was Bangladesh’s opponent in the first two finals. The red-green team won by 34-28 in 2021 and 34-31 in 2022. And in the last season, the hosts beat Chinese Taipei by 28-42 points and became the champions. Tuhin has led the Bangladesh team three times.
The national team’s residential practice has started long ago with 30 people. There are no Indian coaches this time. There is local coach Subimal Chandra. Two-time best catcher and one-time best raider Tuhin told the Bengali Tribune about the reason for not being in this event, ‘Actually I have an injury. The pain hasn’t subsided since the Asian Games. It has also aged a bit. So I am not playing this season. Not only that, I have informed the federation that I will not play in the national team. You can say retired. But I will play regularly in domestic competitions.
In 2019, he decided not to play like this and came back later. When asked whether there is such a possibility in the future, the eight-time man of the match said, ‘Look, who does not want to play for the country. But I am 36 now. I want someone new to play in my place. Then you can provide the service that way. And who can say what the future holds. Currently I am not playing in the national team. This is final.’
Good luck in advance for the red-green team in the fourth season. Tuhin, who played in the national team for 9 consecutive years, said, ‘I am not in the team. But good luck to those who can play. Surely this time we will be able to hold the trophy and celebrate the title.’ He said about his future thoughts, ‘I want to work as a coach in the future.’
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