'It will be a huge achievement for the team' - Nigar Sultana aims to start Women's T20 WC 2024 campaign on winning note

Bangladesh were originally supposed to host the Women's T20 World Cup 2024. However, the onus of hosting the tournament was shifted from the Bangladesh Cricket Board to the Emirates Cricket Board in light of the ongoing political unrest throughout the country.

However, that did not dampen Nigar Sultana, skipper of Bangladesh Women's anticipation one bit during a recent discussion. Having lost all the matches across the 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2023 editions, she was noticeably keen on getting a win on the board in their very first game against Scotland Women.

"We want to win the first match. It will be a huge achievement for the team. Then, the team will get into a rhythm. We can then dream of something bigger. I have played four World Cups but we have never won a game. 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," stated Sultana, as quoted by The Daily Star.

She also highlighted the importance of not taking the Scottish lightly, as well as their aspiration of getting to the semi-final of the competition.

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"As a team, our goal will be to start this World Cup with a win. We are hungry for it. Scotland though are playing better cricket. Generally, teams arrive at the World Cup with a lot expectations. They won't let us win easily. They won't give up without a fight. To play in the semi-final, we have to win against other teams also. We have different plans against each team. If we can execute our gameplan, then it will be better for us. We have defeated South Africa in T20Is. We rarely meet England, only in World Cups, so it might be difficult for them too. We all know that we have a good spin attack," mentioned Sultana, who will be representing the Tigresses for the 100th time in T20Is during the game against Scotland Women.

I hope they continue their form in the World Cup: Sultana

Sultana shed light on Bangladesh Women's vulnerability when it comes to the bat in hand. However, she hoped for an extension of the batters' form from the domestic tournaments to the all-important one.

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"Batting is definitely a concern but we saw some improvements among the batters during the A team tour [of Sri Lanka]. We still believe that we can do well as most of our players have also done well in the domestic tournaments. I hope they continue their form in the World Cup," added Sultana.

The Tigresses will depart for Dubai on Thursday and will take part in a couple of warmup fixtures against Sri Lanka Women and Pakistan Women on September 28 and 30, respectively.