Bangladesh captain Nigar on facing Harmanpreet’s India, preparing for T20 World Cup and nurturing youngsters

The India vs Bangladesh rivalry in the women’s game took a rather unsavoury turn when Harmanpreet Kaur’s outburst against the umpires during India’s tour last year left the host chagrined. Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana Joty did not mince words then, saying her opposite number should have ‘spoken with some manners.’

A little over ten months later, the two sides meet again, in a five-match T20I series and while Nigar politely fields questions about this rivalry and that outburst patiently, she is eager to let an issue of the past remain in the past. 

“The controversy has passed a long time back. As a professional team, we shouldn’t be thinking like that. It’s another opportunity for us to play against a good team. India is among the top sides in the world and we have a chance to show our capability,” Nigar said ahead of the first T20I between the two nations in Sylhet on Sunday. 

“I am looking ahead, whatever has happened has gone by. Everyone is thinking about the world cup because we’re hosting it. We’re headed to the Asia Cup next so we’re focussed on that preparation.”

An Aussie-flavoured learning curve

As the captain of the nation which will host the T20 World Cup later this year, Nigar currently has a lot on her plate, the foremost being the responsibility of a side which has an average age of 23.6 (four players below the age of 20, two 30+-year-olds) and a massive gulf of experience when pitted against some of the other seasoned campaigners in the competitive pool. 

The nation comes into the series against India after being thoroughly outplayed by Australia in the ODI and T20I series played here. Bangladesh could not win a single game, but had plenty of positives to hold on to. 

“It was a very tough tour for the team. We weren’t able to perform the way we have been over the last six months. We didn’t play to our potential. We played against India, Pakistan, South Africa which saw us put up some good team efforts. but we couldn’t put performances together as a unit against Australia,” Nigar explained. 

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“Individual performances were there, though. These players have been playing very well for the side for a long time. It’s just one tour (that’s been underwhelming) and we’ve still placed our faith in them. What we’ve taken from the series against Australia is what we should do in tough situations and how we should stay calm, hold our nerves and keep going.”

Nigar was particularly impressed with her bowling contingent and the size of the fight it put up against the current world champion outfit. 

“I have a lot of variety at my disposal. I have left arm spin, leg spin and two good young fast bowlers. They’re very young and don’t think too much about the international game. They just want to express themselves. I always tell them not to think too much about who they are bowling to. I tell them to just express themselves and enjoy the game. How Marufa (Akter) and (Fariha) Trisna delivered was quite interesting. The experienced batters were smashing us but Trisna came in and got that hattrick. Even the Aussies were a bit surprised by her. It was amazing.”

The sparks the bowling arsenal showed were sadly in vain with Bangladesh’s batting struggling to match up to the Aussies. The side did not manage a three-figure total in the ODI series. Lessons were learnt and implemented in the T20I leg, but it was still too little to prevent a clean sweep with heavily individual margins of loss (by 10 wickets, 58 and 77 runs in the three games respectively). 

“Bowlers have been doing their job for a long time. It’s all about the batters. We were not consistent for the team and that has hampered the team performance. We all know that and the coaching staff has been working hard with the batters. Bowlers get two-three chances to make an impact in a game but batters get just one. If they don’t use it, they’re out. It’s very difficult.”

“It’s a young side and sometimes, when we don’t get runs or things don’t go our way, they get a bit low in confidence. So the job is to motivate them and keep their spirits. I myself was not too consistent. I got runs in one match but didn’t in the next two.”

Breaking the wheel

There was an enormous amount of pressure on Nigar. Throughout the series, she was the (relatively) most consistent batter in the side and confidently took a world class bowling on. Her placement, shot selection and strike rotation were all lessons the rest of the team would have been watching closely to imbibe in their approaches out in the middle. 

She scored 96 runs in three innings in the T20Is at an average of 48.00, second only to Alyssa Healy in the aggregate across teams. This was an improvement on the 44 runs she managed in the ODIs. This was head and shoulders above what her team could put together. 

“It’s quite intense. Captaining this side, leading a bunch of very young players is challenging. They don’t think too much about cricket and sometimes I need to pamper them and handle them because they get upset easily. It’s quite hard for me sometimes. but I am really enjoying it.”

“As a top order batter, my team was relying on me too much. Whenever I get runs consistently, my team performance and result will be different. This is the pressure I play with, I know that very well but I like it, that responsibility. In a lighter situation maybe I won’t put in so much, concentrate as carefully.”

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Nigar is a leader in a team still finding it hard to break into the big leagues, despite showing glimpses of chutzpah many times over the past few years. 

“When I got the opportunity to represent the nation, I told myself that I have to do something different for the players which I did not have when I started off. The first thing was to remove this senior-junior barrier. I wanted to do away with it. I know whenever the youngsters – actually anyone – come into this team, all they want is appreciation and a positive vibe in the dressing room. I am trying to create that environment for them.”

“I have tried to keep communication lines open. They can come to me anytime on and off the field and speak to me about their cricket or their personal lives. We have that kind of bonding and that helped me a lot in the field as well because it has fostered a lot of trust.”

So what happens when Nigar needs some pampering herself? 

“I have a support system, but it’s mainly my elder brother and mother. My mother doesn’t know about cricket but she kept telling me, “It’s okay, you’ll get runs tomorrow” or ‘You’ll do better in the next game.’ She never says anything bad to me after a game. She knows that if a match doesn’t go well, I isolate myself in a room, I eat a lot and watch a movie because I want to think about anything but cricket. The next day, I’ll think about what I did in the match.”

In a world that is increasingly moving towards increased mental health support for its athletes, Bangladesh is taking its baby steps too. 

“Right before coming to Sylhet, we had a session dedicated to mindfulness. It was a two-hour session on stress management. They spoke about mental health and how we can care for ourselves in tough situations, how to come back from negativity or pressure points. It was a good session and hopefully we’ll have more of these resources in the future.”

In the hot seat

Tense match situations will be only one of the many challenges this side will contend with. It will face a formidable opponent in trying conditions. The heat and humidity is expected to come into play given this is a game happening around 4pm local time in Sylhet, not too different from the afternoon games played against Healy’s Australia. 

“We played the games against Australia during the month of Ramadan so it was very difficult for the board to arrange in the evening because we have to break our fast at 6pm. The BCB tried for evening games, but across the spectrum of vendors, we weren’t able to manage a later start. Against India, we’re playing around 4pm. It is hot and humid but the weather will be a bit softer. Fingers crossed, we may get an innings or half under the lights as well.”

The unwitting rivalry notwithstanding, Nigar is excited at the prospect of brushing shoulders with Harmanpreet again. During Australia’s tour, she had gifted Healy a traditional red saree and bangles and is on the lookout for a gift for the Indian captain too. 

“I was telling my players that I want to give Harman something, what should I give? So we’re brainstorming to see what to give. We want to give Harmanpreet the best gift.”

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Nigar admitted that the Indian team (across verticals) is extremely popular in Bangladesh and hopes it drives up the footfall for the games. 

“Let me tell you. India is very popular in Bangladesh. When the India team came, social media was abuzz. They all are eagerly waiting for us to play each other again, I’m not sure why ( laughs).”

“Interest in women’s cricket is increasing day by day. The crowds now are not big, but the ones who support the game come. Many who wanted to come but couldn’t make it during their work schedules ended up following it on live streams. In Sylhet, there are a lot of billboards publicising our games. Lot of videos and social media promotion are being put out by the board too. If the home team does well, more people will come and watch.”

The first T20I between Bangladesh Women and India Women will be streamed live on the FanCode app and website.