Exclusive: Nigar Sultana says World Cup Stage Can Transform Future of Bangladesh Women’s Cricket

Bangladesh women’s national cricket team skipper Nigar Sultana believes that qualifying for the next ICC Women’s World Cup, scheduled in India, was important for them as far as their future is concerned.

Bangladesh have sealed the second spot for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 as West Indies fell agonisingly short of making up the net run rate deficit, despite chasing down 166 in just under 11 overs.

Bangladesh missed direct qualification for the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup as they finished on 21 points in the Women's Championship table, level with New Zealand. However, New Zealand had more wins than Bangladesh in the Women's Championship as they secured the sixth and final direct spot on the back of nine wins, compared to Bangladesh's eight.

Bangladesh women’s team also had to qualify to play in the ODI World Cup last time and it seemed they were confident to repeat a similar feat. 

But as things unfolded, it seemed luck was on their side as they qualified due to the sheer bad luck of West Indies, whose net run rate was 0.013 behind Bangladesh — meaning they missed qualification by a fraction, literally.

Bangladesh surely needed this kind of luck, where women’s cricket is yet to establish its place, as society has not yet welcomed it wholeheartedly — courtesy of the traditional mindset carried by many, suggesting women are born to do household chores rather than play cricket.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE QUALIFICATION

Sultana, who has been leading the Bangladesh team for quite some time and has turned out to be the face of the country’s women’s cricket, told SportsBoom.com, that they are well aware of what it means to qualify.

“It was very important (to qualify for the World Cup). As you all know, when a team plays in World Cup or ICC tournaments, they get support from their cricket board and ICC as the cricket world count on them differently,” Nigar told SportsBoom.com. 

“The way it has helped the men’s team before, it would assist the women’s team as well, considering the fact that when a team qualifies for the World Cup it attracts the attention of the board and they start focusing on the pipeline and other facilities."

“When a team goes to play an ICC event, everyone takes special notice. The ICC also provides different opportunities when a team competes in an ODI World Cup. We all realized that this is a big deal for our careers." 

“After we played in the last ODI World Cup and entered the FTP, our number of games increased by a lot. The players benefitted in terms of respect and in financial terms.”

TO INCREASE POPULARITY OF WOMEN'S CRICKET

Nigar feels that apart from getting the attention of the board, the qualification will also help them to popularise the game among the masses.

“Definitely, qualifying for the World Cup will help to gain popularity of women’s cricket."

“Everyone keeps their eyes on big tournaments like the Asia Cup and World Cup. As these games are telecast on foreign TV channels, people all around the world follow them."

“When we play well in the tournaments, the support gets higher. That’s why this qualification was very important for the promotion of women’s cricket in Bangladesh as well as around the globe."

SACRIFICING RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL

Nigar added that Bangladesh women’s cricketers sacrificed a lot in preparation for the event as they underwent a residential camp during the Eid festival ahead of the tournament.

“We didn't go to our families to celebrate Eid and had to practice even the day before Eid (the biggest religious festival for Muslims) because we all know how important the tournament is for the team,” said Nigar. 

“We did everything that was in our power even though it was tough to do during Ramadan."