"I had a lot of dreams" - Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana grieves T20 World Cup venue shift
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana is still coming to terms with the last-minute shift of the 2024 women's T20 World Cup from her country to the UAE due to the tense political situation in Dhaka. She said her team and their families were dreaming of seeing them play in a home World Cup and now she feels they have been "deprived of earning that pride".
Bangladesh saw widespread protests against the long-serving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government in the last few months. After the deaths of over 300 people, it culminated in Hasina's resignation and the appointment of an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
The ICC monitored the situation carefully for a while but had to shift the tournament elsewhere after several countries, including India, issued travel advisories for their citizens for Bangladesh. The new government made a last-ditch appeal to the United Nations to try and ease the advisories but to no avail.
"For the last two days I was really sad and today seemed a bit free because a lot of people tried to make me understand [the switch] in different ways," Nigar told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
"To be honest I was really hurt from the core of my heart. I had a lot of dreams and not only me it was the same for all the players because it is not only us who were waiting to play the World Cup in our country but along with us our family also waited for it, like our friends, fans or our close ones. They were preparing in a different ways for this World Cup. As a player what I feel is that I missed the chance of having the pride of playing the World Cup in front of the home crowd. We are deprived of earning that pride," she added.
Bangladesh last hosted a women's T20 World Cup in 2014 and there was a lot of excitement around the second opportunity. The ICC also considered Zimbabwe for the switch but eventually went with the UAE.
"It will be helpful for the players" - Nigar Sultana on Faruque Ahmed's appointment
The political turmoil also saw officials of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, including president Nazmul Hasan, fleeing from the country as they were said to be close to the departing government. Former cricketer and selector Faruque Ahmed has been appointed as the new chief.
"I think as he is elected as the board president certainly those who were there had taken his experience into consideration. I think it will be helpful for the players as he know what we need, and for that I am happy," Nigar said in the same interaction.
The tournament will begin as originally scheduled on October 3 and will be played at two venues in Dubai and Sharjah until October 20.