The game of cricket, which originated in England, was introduced to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh by the English colonies. While the Bangladeshi men’s cricket team solidified their foot in international cricket back in 1979, the women’s cricket team of Bangladesh made their first international foray when they won three matches against Thailand in 2007 before winning the title of Asian Cricket Council Women’s Tournament in 2007.
The country, since then, has given some of the most talented and passionate players to the game. One such Bangladeshi player is the present captain of Bangladesh women’s cricket team in One-Day Internationals and T20 Internationals, Nigar Sultana, who has impressed the audiences with her ODI and T20 performances.
The eighth season of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup has already begun earlier this month in 2023, and all eyes are set to witness Sultana’s abilities as a captain for Bangladesh. Keep on reading to know more about the Bangladeshi tigress journey, cricket updates, and the latest ICC T20 World Cup news.
EARLY LIFE OF NIGAR SULTANA
Born on 01st August 1997, in the Sherpur district of northern Bangladesh, Nigar Sultana is the right-handed batswoman and wicketkeeper of the national women’s cricket team of Bangladesh. She made her international cricket debut in 2015 and has made her name in the T20 and One-Day cricket.
Sultana discovered her love for cricket when she was just two years old. She used to watch her brothers play the sport in the backyard of their home every day. Her fascination for cricket continued to grow as the years went by, and she decided to pursue her passion in her early teens by accompanying her brother to his cricket club in Sherpur. Although she was met with a lot of criticism by her relatives for pursuing something that was considered masculine, Sultana continued to follow her heart with the support of her family. Despite growing up in a conservative and judgemental household, Sultana never had to compromise her dream of representing Bangladesh in international cricket because of her supportive parents.
In one of her interviews, Sultana once said her mother was the reason why she never gave up on cricket, despite the initial hardships. She considers her brother a friend who always supported her dream and believed in her abilities. Her father has also been supportive of Sultana. When Sultana’s batting practice was getting disturbed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, her father built an artificial enclosed space using fishing nets to keep her practice going.
SULTANA’S T20 INTERNATIONAL CAREER
Sultana made her debut in international cricket in a T20 match against Pakistan in 2015. Although her batting skills were not impressive, she made it up with her aggressive yet calm wicket-keeping skills. In her first match against Pakistan, she had three dismissals to her name.
The middle-order batswoman has made 1310 runs in 71 T20 matches at an average of 25.19 and a respectable strike rate of 90.53. With one hot one-hundred and four half-centuries to her name, Sultana is one of the best batting stars in Bangladesh.
Her best T20 performance came in 2019 during the South Asian Games Women’s Cricket Competition against Maldives Women at Pokhara. She scored 113 runs in 65 balls at an impressive strike rate of 173.84, including 17 boundary shots. Her century helped Bangladesh build a massive run chase of 256 from their 50 overs and make an outstanding 249-run win.
Sultana was the leading run scorer from her team during the 2020 ICC Women’s World Cup held in Australia. She made 114 runs at a strike rate of over 90 in just four matches.
Another memorable performance from Sultana came during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier against Ireland Women in 2022, where she scored 67 for 53 at an impressive strike rate of 126.41, helping her team to build a moderate chase of 143. Sultana was also the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 180 runs to her name. She scored this at an average of 45.00 and a strike rate of 105.26.
SULTANA’S ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL CAREER
Nigar played her first One-Day match just a month after her T20 debut in 2015. Sultana, this time around, seemed comfortable with the bat. Even after the fall of back-to-back wickets, she held her head high and stuck to the pitch till the end. Although Pakistan Women won the match by 6 wickets with 69 balls remaining, Sultana’s performance was appreciated.
Her ODI stats are impressive with over 600 runs in just 33 One-Day matches to her name. She made this score at an average of 23.50 and a strike rate of 47.51. Her career-best ODI performance came in the 2022 ICC Women’s Championship during Bangladesh Women’s tour of New Zealand. She made 73 runs in 133 balls at a strike rate of 54.88. Her other two centuries came during the 2017 South Africa Women’s tour of Bangladesh and the 2019 Bangladesh Women’s tour of Pakistan. She made 59 for 90 at a strike rate of 65.55 against South Africa-W and 58 for 77 at a strike rate of over 75 against Pakistan-W at Lahore.
RECORDS IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET
Two of the most strenuous jobs in the sport are batting and wicket-keeping, and Sultana has time and again proved herself as one of the best wicket-keeping batswomen that Bangladesh has ever discovered. She has her name among the top ten best wicket-keeling batswomen in T20 Internationals and One-Day Internationals.
Sultana is the third-most player with the highest stumpings in an inning in Women’s One-Day Internationals. She is also among the top ten players with the highest number of stumpings in Women’s T20 Internationals, with 27 successful T20 dismissals to her name.
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Nigar Sultana won the title of the player of the series for the 2022 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier for her marvelous performance in the series.
She was also nominated for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award in September 2022, along with two Indian cricketers Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana.
