Ahead of their crucial clash against South Africa at the Women’s World Cup 2025, Bangladesh spinner Nahida Akhter addressed the media, reflecting on the team’s recent performances and preparations for the upcoming challenges. After a promising start to the tournament, Bangladesh suffered back-to-back defeats to England and New Zealand, leaving them determined to bounce back stronger.
When asked about the consecutive losses and how the team is coping, Nahida said, “Of course after winning one and losing two consecutively it’s difficult to keep your morale up but then we are looking for a comeback and possibly this match we can.”
The batting department has been a major concern, with the top order failing to deliver in recent matches. On being questioned about the collapse, Nahida admitted that the team is aware of its shortcomings and is working to address them.
“Yes, we know we have collapsed in the batting line up. For this our batting coach, we have had talks and meetings and where we lack, we have worked on it and are probably looking now to our batters to make a comeback.”
When asked about skipper Nigar Sultana’s form, Nahida expressed confidence in her experience but urged other players to step up. “We know Joty has that experience which gives us the boost, but we hope other batters to step up also.”
Discussing the team’s bowling plans, she highlighted that the final combination would depend on pitch conditions. “It’s difficult to say now we want to play with one pacer or two or spinners, it totally depends about how the pitch and wicket behaves.”
Facing South Africa, one of the tournament’s in-form sides, will be a challenge, but Nahida stressed that Bangladesh has done its homework. “We have had meetings and discussions about it. We know they are a good team and won the last match against India. We will look at how to play tomorrow’s game.”
She also praised the team’s pace attack, particularly young seamer Marufa Akter, for their consistent efforts. “Not only spin, everyone saw our pace bowlers doing good, we get a good start with pace bowling, Marufa bowled really well, that is good for us.”
Looking ahead to the two big matches against South Africa and Australia, Nahida expressed optimism. “We are prepared for it and improved our batting line-up, so we prepared well enough.”
With two crucial encounters on the horizon, Bangladesh will be eager to turn their preparation into performance and regain their winning rhythm.
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