"It was very heartbreaking" - Bangladesh women's team skipper Nigar Sultana on not playing the T20 World Cup on home soil
Bangladesh women's team skipper Nigar Sultana spoke about having to play their 'home' World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the unfortunate political unrest in the nation. Bangladesh recorded their first win since 2014 at the Women's T20 World Cup as they defeated Scotland by 16 runs.
Bangladesh were initially slated to host the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup. However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) took the decision to switch the tournament to a neutral location because of the current security threat in the subcontinental nation.
Nigar Sultana and Co. missed out on the opportunity to play in front of their home crowd, but channeled their frustration in the right direction to pull off a clinical display against Scotland in the tournament opener. The team had an emotional celebration at the Sharjah Cricket Ground after defending a 120-run target.
"It means a lot. Initially, it was very heartbreaking because we were always bearing in mind that we were able to play in front of our home crowd. But this team, the people looking here today, it was brilliant, we got quite a few people supporting Bangladesh," Sultana said after the win over Scotland.
"As a professional team, I think we should move on and not be thinking about playing in Bangladesh in front of a home crowd now but still being able to play here and we are pretty fortunate," she added.
Sultana scored a run-a-ball 18 in the first innings, before the bowlers stepped up to defend the score. Ritu Moni was adjudged the Player of the Match after ending with impressive figures of 2-15 off four overs.
"I think we need to work on our fielding" - Nigar Sultana
There were early concerns over how the players would fare with their catching against the infamous 'Ring of Fire' floodlight system in Dubai. However, there were several fielding mishaps on display even before the tournament reached the Dubai International Stadium.
There were a slew of dropped catches in the tournament opener, while the same trend followed in the evening clash between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
"Certainly after this game I think we need to work on our fielding because we put down a lot of chances. Definitely I missed two chances so I need to work on something. We have some time and we'll definitely work on that and we'll take all the positives from this game into the next game," Sultana said.
Bangladesh are scheduled to face the England women's team next in Sharjah on Saturday, October 5.