Bangladesh have turned to experience and continuity for their next T20I era, appointing 25-year-old left-arm spinner and bowling all-rounder Nahida Akter as the team’s new skipper in the format. The Bangladesh Cricket Board confirmed the decision to Cricbuzz on Sunday, with Nahida succeeding long-serving wicketkeeper-batter Nigar Sultana Joty, while Sobhana Mostary has been named vice-captain.
Nahida’s elevation is a natural progression rather than a sudden gamble. She has served as Bangladesh’s T20I vice-captain since Joty took charge in 2022, offering leadership support through a period that included the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup and the Asian Games. BCB women’s wing chairman Rafiqul Islam said the board believed the moment had arrived for the left-arm spinner to take full responsibility.
“We sat with members of the selection panel along with others and decided to hand over the T20I captaincy to Nahida. Sobhana Mostary will be her deputy,” Rafiqul told Cricbuzz. “Nahida has been the vice-captain for a pretty long time, and now we feel the time is right to give her the responsibility of our T20I squad,” he added.
Nahida Akter brings a compelling bowling record to the role. Since making her T20I debut against Pakistan in Karachi on September 30, 2015, she has taken 132 wickets in 113 matches at an average of 17.38 and an economy rate of 5.92 across 112 innings, currently being the leading wicket-taker for Bangladesh in the format so far. Her returns include two four-wicket hauls and two five-wicket hauls, underlining her ability to control middle overs and deliver breakthroughs when Bangladesh need them most. With the bat, she has added 178 runs in 47 innings, giving the side a useful lower-order option.
Her appointment follows Joty’s decision to step down from T20I captaincy [announced before the tournament], after the Asian Games in Japan, where Bangladesh finished without a medal. Their quarter-final against China was washed out, before a 114-run semi-final defeat to Harmanpreet Kaur’s India on September 20. Pakistan, led by Fatima Sana, then beat Bangladesh by 31 runs in the bronze-medal match on September 22 at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin.
Nigar Sultana Joty leaves behind a substantial leadership legacy. She captained Bangladesh in 82 T20Is, scoring 1,885 runs at an average of 29.45 and a strike rate of 97.26 in 79 innings, with 13 half-centuries as a skipper. In victories, her impact was even sharper: 778 runs at an average of 37.04 and a strike rate of 112.1 in 30 innings, including eight fifties in 32 matches. Her overall win percentage as T20I captain was 39.02.
Bangladesh’s recent results have made the transition timely. Under Joty, they finished second in Group B at the sixth ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates, but their campaign ended with a 40-run semi-final defeat to India on September 10. More recently, Bangladesh suffered a 3-0 ODI series defeat in their historic maiden bilateral white-ball tour of Australia from October 9 to 14, although Sobhana Mostary provided encouragement as the side’s leading run-scorer and the series’ third-highest run-getter, with 129 runs at an average of 43 and a strike rate of 73.71, including a century.
Joty will continue to lead Bangladesh in ODIs, ensuring stability in the 50-over format while Nahida begins building her own identity in T20Is. The new captain’s first major assignment will be the second edition of the ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy in Thailand, beginning against Pakistan on November 12. Bangladesh will then tour New Zealand, under Amelia Kerr’s leadership, from December 10 to 23 for a white-ball series featuring three T20Is followed by three ODIs.
For Nahida, the challenge is clear: convert her calm presence, bowling intelligence and vice-captaincy experience into a winning leadership voice. For Bangladesh, it is an opportunity to refresh their T20I approach while preserving the foundations built during Joty’s tenure.
(Quotes sourced from Cricbuzz)
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