Nigar and her team miss out on a 'Medal'

A bright morning sun rose over Nagoya. With the typhoon receding, Korogi Sports Park Cricket Ground was completely ready. However, the Bangladesh women's cricket team arrived in Japan completely unprepared. After a dismal performance in the UAE leading to a semi-final exit from the Asia Cup, they were thoroughly humiliated by India in the Asian Games. Even so, there was still a ray of hope for a bronze medal. That, too, slipped away through expensive bowling and aimless batting. On Tuesday morning, they lost to Pakistan by 31 runs, marking the first time the women's cricket team has to return home empty-handed from the Asian Games.

Since cricket was included in the Guangzhou Games in 2010, the women's team had never returned home without a medal. After winning silver in the first two editions, Bangladesh secured the bronze in Hangzhou in 2023 by defeating Pakistan. However, it was not to be this time. Winning the toss and opting to bat, Pakistan set a competitive total of 145 runs for 8 wickets on the scoreboard. Opener Gull Feroza set the tempo early with a 31-run knock off 23 balls. Towards the end, a cameo of 45 runs off 30 balls by captain Fatima Sana and a 25-run effort off 22 balls by Aliya Riaz helped Pakistan reach a respectable total. Bangladesh's bowlers once again failed to live up to their reputation in this match. Although Swarna Akter, Nahida Akter, and Ritu Moni picked up two wickets each, they could not stem the flow of Pakistan's scoring.

On a day when the bowlers failed to deliver, the batters could not take responsibility either. Bangladesh lost wickets at regular intervals. After being reduced to 20 for 3, the duty of rebuilding the innings and keeping the scoreboard moving fell on captain Nigar Sultana and Sharmin Akhter. However, both were focused solely on rebuilding, which consumed valuable deliveries. Nigar, in particular, disappointed once again by getting out after getting set. After building a 47-run partnership with Sharmin, the Bangladesh captain fell leg-before to Ayesha Zafar for 25 runs off 30 balls. Bangladesh could not recover after that. Sharmin dragged the innings single-handedly to 114, remaining unbeaten on 46 off 45 balls with four boundaries. However, none of the tailenders could offer timely support.

Thus, Bangladesh must return home having lost the opportunity to stand on the podium for the first time. Among the few sports where Bangladesh dared to dream of a medal ahead of the Games was women's cricket. Shattering that dream, Nigar and her team have once again shown how much turmoil exists within the squad. Although she announced her decision to step down from the captaincy before the Games, how can Nigar escape accountability for the twin failures in the Asia Cup and the Asian Games?