Tigresses eye to ‘set the tone’ against Pak
Bangladesh will begin their campaign in the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 today with arguably their biggest match in the league phase against Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Heading into their second-ever appearance in the tournament, the Tigresses have set a realistic goal for themselves to outdo their performance in the 2022 edition in New Zealand, where they won one out of seven matches.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. That sole victory had come against Pakistan in Hamilton, where a 71-run knock from Fargana Hoque laid the foundation for a nine-run victory.
Captain Nigar Sultana Joty, who had scored a valuable 46 in that game, is once again leading the side in the mega event and is hopeful that her teammates can beat their South Asian rivals again to kick off their campaign on the right foot.
"A lot has changed after that [2022 World Cup]. It's a new day. It will be a good opportunity for the team to get a good start tomorrow [Thursday], definitely, because it's the opener for us. It will set up a good tone for the whole tournament," Joty said in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
"For us, it is a good thing to play against Pakistan because we have played together for a long time and we know each other. We played against them in the qualifiers and have played bilateral series as well. So, it could be a good contest," she added.
The Bangladesh camp was struck by the news of their head coach Sarwar Imran suffering a minor stroke on Monday. Sarwar's condition has since stabalised, and he is at the team hotel, Joty confirmed to the media.
Before the tournament, the coach had earmarked two opponents in the eight-team event -- Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- believing they had a good chance of beating them.
Going by the ICC WODI rankings, his assertion holds weight as the Tigresses are currently sitting at seventh, sandwiched between Sri Lanka (sixth) and Pakistan (eighth).
Bangladesh are aiming for gradual ascension with a goal of two victories, but fulfilling such a target is easier said than done -- just ask the Tigers.
The Bangladesh men's team had burst onto the scenes with two wins in their maiden World Cup appearance in 1999, against Pakistan and Scotland, but in the following edition they went winless, even losing to Canada.
Even in women's cricket, consistent progression in global events is hard to accomplish.
Pakistan, for example, didn't win any games in their maiden World Cup appearance in 1997, then won two matches in 2009, only to go winless in the 2013 and 2017 and winning just one game in the last edition to finish dead last in the eight-team event.
The Tigresses have not played any international matches since the World Cup Qualifiers in Pakistan in April. Their first warm-up game for the World Cup got rained out against South Africa and in the second and final one, they beat Sri Lanka by one run in Colombo on Saturday.
Batter Sharmin Akhter Supta top-scored with 71 and star left-arm spinner Nahida Akter claimed three wickets in that match. Skipper Nigar would hope that these players will carry their form into the Pakistan tie and start the tournament with a crucial win.
Comments