It is a long-awaited dream come true for all of us : Nigar Sultana

Bangladesh Women’s Cricket Team Captain Nigar Sultana wrote in her ICC Online Media Zone column.

Bangladesh would be making their maiden ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup appearance this year. The team has played 3 T20 World Cups (2014, 2016, 2018) but haven’t been able to qualify for the ODI World Cup, finishing 5th in the qualification tournament in both 2011 and 2017.

Sharing the atmosphere in the team’s camp with just 2 weeks left for the big tournament, Sultana wrote that the team is very eager and excited to perform on the big stage and wants to make the most of this opportunity.

“Now, people are showing interest and they want to know where and how we’re going to play,” writes Bangladesh’s Skipper Nigar Sultana

“Playing in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup is a long-awaited dream come true for all of us,”

Having played just 42 ODIs till now, Bangladesh hasn’t yet competed against 3 of the 2022 World Cup teams (England, Australia, and New Zealand) in the format. Talking about them, the wicket-keeper batter wrote that the team has been following them over Television and Internet with the belief that they would be playing against them someday and are aware of their strengths and weaknesses with the help of our analysts.

Sultana, who was a part of Bangladesh’s 2018 Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup-winning squad, also shared that the Asia cup victory was a major boost for them. It brought them to light among the citizens of the nation who now follow our matches with interest which is evident from the increasing praise the team received on Social Media after the World Cup qualification.

“Bangladesh is a cricket-loving nation and now they are also there for the women’s team. This brings some pressure but it’s good pressure, as we feel a desire to do well for them as well.” wrote Sultana

Commenting on the door to opportunities a good performance in the World Cup would open for the team, the Skipper wrote that it is a chance for them to prove their potential so that not just the team gets to play more of domestic and international cricket in the future but also the young talented girls from the country are inspired to take up the sport and take Bangladesh women’s cricket to great heights in time to come.

Sharing her thoughts on the squad, the 24 years old thinks that the presence of three former captains of the team – all-rounders Salma Khatun, Rumana Ahmed, and bowler Jahanara Alam is helping her a lot.  She further added that the addition of young bowlers, Suraiya Azmin and Fariha Trisna have added strength to the bowling unit.

“On a personal level, it is a great opportunity for me to lead the team into our first-ever World Cup. If we could do well here, it’s going to be a great historical moment for all of us”, Sultana concluded her column.

Bangladesh’s schedule for Group Stage of the World Cup

This article was first published in the ICC Online Media Zone column.