Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana has completed 100 matches in the T20I format, becoming the first Bangladeshi cricketer to achieve this milestone.
The opening encounter of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 was played between Bangladesh and Scotland, marking Nigar Sultana’s 100th T20I match as she led the side in the ninth edition of the tournament.
Sultana made her T20I debut against Pakistan in 2015. She established herself as a vital player in the batting unit in a short span. She was Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer in the 2016 Women’s T20 World Cup.
During the South Asian Games Women’s Cricket event, Nigar Sultana scored an unbeaten 113 against the Maldives, becoming the first Bangladeshi cricketer to score a century in T20Is. She also holds the record for the highest partnership for the third wicket alongside Fargana Haque in that match, a record that stands to this day. For her remarkable performance, she was awarded Player of the Match.
A competent wicketkeeper-batter, Sultana was also Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer in the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup, accumulating 114 runs in four innings. In January 2022, she was appointed captain of the Bangladesh side for the Commonwealth Games Cricket Qualifier tournament in Malaysia.
Sultana has made rapid strides in her career and has consistently been one of the top performers in major tournaments. She played a crucial role in Bangladesh’s victory in the 2022 Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier, finishing as the team’s top run-scorer and second overall in the tournament with 180 runs in five innings, including two half-centuries. During the same tournament, she reached another milestone by completing 1,000 runs in T20Is.
Sultana leads with distinction, both with the bat and behind the stumps, amassing over 1,900 runs in her 100 appearances, including eight fifties and one century, in what has been a glorious career for Bangladesh so far.