People
Published: June 29, 2023 | Updated: 4th July 2023
A popular Indian restaurant in Ringwood has given its support to Eleven Stars of Ringwood, the market town’s Bangladeshi cricket team.
India Cottage, which has been open and run by the Mannan family since 1981, has agreed to sponsor the team’s kit.
“It all came about because a number of our staff who play on the team kept inviting us down to watch them play,” explained Sarah Choudhury, manager of India Cottage and fiancée of current owner Shad Mannan.
“We’re not massively into cricket, but when they mentioned their plans to play against a local Sri Lankan team from Ferndown I thought it was a really nice piece of positive and diverse news.”
The Eleven Stars are currently playing a series of three friendly matches against the Sri Lankan team every Sunday at Little Down Leisure Centre in Bournemouth, with the last two matches scheduled for the 9th and 16th of July.
(L-R) Back Row -Khuber, Naz, Nihad, Shiraz, Mwakim, Juned, Misbah, Shuhel. Front Row – Mamur, Emon, Khosru, Arif.
Sarah and Shad decided that on top of sponsoring the kit, they would also give the winners a trophy and a donation to a charity of their choice.
Shad said: “Cricket is a big part of our lives, of our community, and of our work family. With three of our team playing for the Eleven Stars I just had to be involved.
“Not being much of a cricketer myself, I thought sponsoring the kit would be the ideal way to support the team.
“We’re passionate about the game and could not be more thrilled to support our local team.
“It’s not all about winning, of course, but I’m definitely rooting for the Eleven Stars of Ringwood!”
India Cottage was first opened in 1981 by Muhammed Mannan and his wife Momotaz.
When Muhammed retired in 1991, his son Sadeq, known as Shad, bought the restaurant from them, having graduated with a degree in business and marketing from Wiltshire College and University Centre.
His hard work was recognised last year, when the India Cottage was given a Travellers’ Choice award from TripAdvisor, recognising it as one of the top ten per cent of restaurants worldwide.
