Bangladesh Women’s captain Nigar Sultana expressed her disappointment at not being able to play the T20 Women’s World Cup 2024 at home because of the latest move to the United Arab Emirates, which will rob them of the opportunity to represent their country proudly in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
Due to travel restrictions imposed by a number of nations during the political unrest in the subcontinental nation, the International Cricket Council recently agreed to relocate the World Cup from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates.
“For the last two days I was really sad and today I 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 when her attention was drawn to the recent development.
“To be honest I was really hurt and that 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,” she said.
“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.
As a player herself, Nigar expressed her excitement at the election of a cricketer to lead the Bangladesh Cricket Board, believing Faruque Ahmed to be a knowledgeable and understanding representative of the sport’s requirements.
As the first BCB president to have played in competitive cricket, Faruque played seven One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for Bangladesh between 1988 and 1999. He also spent two stints as BCB’s chief selector.
“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,” said Nigar.
“Look it will take some time because when he will start working can we understand how good he is for us and what is likely to happen. Because he played cricket so I can say that he is well aware of what the obstacles are that we usually face. Earlier he worked as a selector and a long time ago he was also in women’s selection and at that point, I was in the camp for the first time and not as an important player so he might not remember me from that time,” she said.
“He has the experience, and more or less the people who will work for the benefit of cricketers they will be welcomed by the cricketers. They have played cricket and they are aware of what is required because there are certain needs of an international cricketer and what kind of preparation can help a cricketer perform at the international level, [those things] no one will know better than a cricketer himself. So, definitely, those who are involved in cricket if they come forward to work for the cricketers, it is all the better,” she added.
