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Bangla citizenship for Greenidge

Gordon Greenidge, the legendary West Indian opener, has been awarded Bangladesh citizenship for elevating the country's cricket to world standards.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed handed over the certificate and passport granting Greenidge citizenship at a simple ceremony at her office on Thursday.

''It's a great honour for me,'' Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge said after the ceremony. ''I will display this green passport throughout the world wherever I go.''

The Caribbean cricketer -- one of the game's all-time greats -- helped Bangladesh lift the ICC cup and qualify for the 1999 World Cup in England.

He is only the third foreigner to be awarded an honorary citizenship -- national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and boxing legend Mohammad Ali were the others.

UNI