Bangladesh women's cricket team captain Nigar Sultana Joty is hopeful of doing well in the upcoming Women's Twenty20 World Cup to be held in the United Arab Emirates in the next month. Due to the political unrest, the tournament was moved to the UAE from Bangladesh. However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) remains its hosts, partnering with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) to ensure the successful completion of the event.
Bangladesh's one and only victory in the tournament came back in 2014 when they hosted the tournament. The Tigresses defeated Ireland in a ninth-place play-off match in Sylhet. Since then, Bangladesh played four more editions in this tournament but found them in losing end every time. In those four editions, they played 16 matches in total but the victory remained elusive.
Joty who played all those last four editions said her side's first target would be to end the losing streak and to do that they set a goal to make winning start to the tournament, and the opponent in the first match has given them a massive hope. Bangladesh's opponent in the first match is Scotland against whom they have never lost a match despite playing four games.
"To get into the rhythm, winning in the first match is always important. We are quite aware of our dismal record in the T20 World Cup. So we want to win the first match. It will be a huge achievement for the team," Joty said on Tuesday (Sep 24) while addressing the media in pre-tournament press conference held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. "I was the part of the last four editions of the tournament and found myself in losing end every time. The last time we won was in the 2014 tournament. We have played well in previous editions but playing well only means something when you can win."
Bangladesh Women's team played a number of matches as part of their preparation for the T20 World Cup. The outcome though was not encouraging one.
Joty admitted their shortcomings in the batting department, which sank them in most of the matches. However, since the UAE pitches are believed to assist the spinners, Joty said her strong spin department can make the difference. "As I said earlier, we are hungry to win a match. Our goal will be to start the tournament with winning note. We know Scotland are a tougher opponent but we'll give our best," she added. "Every team comes in any tournament with high expectation and so it is not easy to win whatever the strength of the opponent is! No one will give up without fighting," she said.
Joty is, however, set to become the first Bangladeshi women's cricketer to play 100 WT20I in the Scotland game. Joty believes if they can break the defeat jinx, they are capable of reaching semifinal. "We are capable of winning against any team if we can put our best performance. We have plans up in the sleeve for every team. We rarely face off England, only in World Cups, so it might be difficult for them too. We all know that we have a good spin attack."
"Batting has been definitely a concern but we saw some improvements among the batters during the A team tour of Sri Lanka."
Head coach Hashan Tillakaratne also said that the batting has been a weak link for the Tigresses but still backed the players to deliver. "We have played a number of matches so the preparation has been good. Batting is a headache but there were some positives against Sri Lanka A. We are very much confident. I am sure they will win the game for us," he said.
The Tigresses will kick off the campaign against Scotland on Oct 3 in their Group B match in Sharjah before face with England at the same venue on Oct 5. They will then take on West Indies and South Africa on Oct 11 and 13 in Sharjah.
Group A includes six-time champions Australia, along with India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka while Group B comprises Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies and Scotland.
The top two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, scheduled on Oct 17 and 18 while the final will be held in Dubai on Oct 20.
Joti's side will depart for Dubai on Thursday.
