Winning major competitions changes things, and for the women’s game in Bangladesh, the time in the sun came when they beat India in the 2018 Asia Cup final in Kuala Lumpur.
Not only did it bring rewards and trophies, it also grabbed the attention of the people in the country and the cricketing world. However, eight years on, despite the game growing by leaps and bounds, Bangladesh women’s cricket still faces a major issue: lack of consistent, quality preparation.
Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana (in pic) called for more bilaterals and said they would “definitely want to play” more against the game’s best to help build their competitiveness and the ability to deliver under pressure in crunch situations.
“We would definitely like to play more international games. That’s where we learn. We want to play more against teams like India, Australia, and England because we feel a lot of pressure. It helps us understand the game better because we feel a lot of emotions we have never felt against other sides. We want to play tougher sides consistently,” Sultana told DH in an interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network.
In that context, Sultana is excited that Bangladesh would play a lot more matches, according to the Future Tour Programme (FTP), but understands the calendar is packed.
“The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is actually trying to organise such bilaterals, but sometimes, the top sides have packed schedules the whole year. Now that we are in the FTP, we will play a few more bilaterals. We need to find a way to create room so we approach good sides to play at home.”
Bangladesh, with preparation running mostly on national camps and inter-squad matches to fine-tune their skills, have always punched above their weight. In the last year’s ODI World Cup in India, they gave England, Sri Lanka and South Africa a solid run for their money.
Despite playing cricketing powerhouses mostly in just ICC events, Bangladesh have been gleaning knowledge from the experience, especially playing against India.
“We have been competing well, which shows we can compete against any side. However, in crunch moments, we have not been able to handle our nerves. I think the big difference is the consistency because they know how to win games. They know how to step up in pressure situations. We have that talent. But somehow, we fail to capitalise on ourselves in the middle. However, the Asia Cup is a great opportunity to show what we have been working on.”