EXCLUSIVE
Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana Joty on the India series.
“I felt Harmanpreet would say well played to my girls at the prize giving. It would have meant the world to them, who consider her their hero. Instead, what happened was disrespectful and hurtful, and it was best I walked away from there with my team.”
The India-Bangladesh women’s series has been the subject of much deliberation recently. While the talk has mostly centered on Harmanpreet Kaur and her conduct, and perhaps rightly so, there hasn’t been much talk about the Bangladesh side of the story. The BCCI by not appealing the ban meted out to Harman by the ICC has taken the correct stand, and set an example. No one is bigger than the game, and the BCCI under Jay Shah has rightly made that point. For Bangladesh, however, the story is very different. To be able to draw a series against higher-ranked India was a huge achievement, and could well be a defining moment in the history of the sport across the border. And the woman who led the team with distinction deserves a lot of credit for this achievement. Currently on a break, Nigar Sultana Joty joined me for an hour-long conversation on how she looks back at the series.
Excerpts from the conversation:
Boria: It was a very good result from the Bangladesh standpoint. And could well give the game in Bangladesh a big fillip. How do you look back at the series against India?
Nigar Sultana: You are right in saying it was a big result for us. We are a young team, and a number of our senior players weren’t in the team. In fact, for some of our girls, opposition players like Harmanpreet and Smriti are heroes. They are crazy about them. To be able to beat them, and then force a tie means a lot to us as a team. We are confident we will now be able to build on these gains going forward.
Boria: India were 186-4 at one point, and we all were confident of a win in the third and final ODI. The asking rate was just 4.36. Did you at any point feel the game had slipped away?
Nigar Sultana: There was a rain break, if you remember, and all I kept saying to my girls is that we need to get two to three wickets. If we managed to get two wickets, they would come under pressure. The plan was to put them under pressure, and then see what happens. We did pick up a few wickets, and the game changed. We could have won the game as well.
Boria: You went to the young Marufa Akter, who has incidentally passed her SSC examination yesterday. She is very young, and yet you reposed faith in her.
Nigar Sultana: She has a very good inswinger, and a very good yorker. While I was conscious of not putting pressure on her, I asked her to try and bowl a yorker. If she landed it on the stumps, we could get the batter out bowled or even lbw. There was always the chance. And if she did not, I’d not say anything to her. While she did not bowl a yorker, we did manage to pick up the last wicket. But yes, she is extremely talented and has a bright future.
Boria: We all know the series was marred by unpleasantness. The BCCI too has said that it will not appeal the ban handed down by the ICC to the Indian skipper. But now that you have been able to take distance from it, do you think that she too had done things in the heat of the moment and, while it was indeed a mistake, such things happen in sport?
Nigar Sultana: You are right in saying such things happen in sport, and it is not the first time. You are also right in saying that it happened in the heat of the moment. However, had it been restricted to the field of play, honestly speaking I would not have felt bad about it or felt disappointed. I would have told my players that it was all in the intensity of the moment, and it is better than all of us moved on from it. But what really disappointed me was that it was not restricted to the field of play. Let me tell you something. For my players too, Harmanpreet is a legend of the game. They too look up to her. And when they came and said to me that how can a legend of her stature do this to us, I felt sad and disappointed. That’s what has pained me the most.
Harmanpreet Kaur hits the stumps for six. Brain fade? Pressure? ICC sanctions loom…
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Boria: You were repeatedly asked in the press conference what transpired, and you maintained your poise and did not open up. Now also, you haven’t really said much and that’s fair. We have all seen the footage of the prize distribution ceremony. Do you not think that may be in hindsight, you should not have walked away with your team. Let me make it clear that I am not asking you to tell me what was said during the prize distribution. I am aware you don’t wish to speak about it, and that’s fine by me.
Nigar Sultana: There are certain things that are permissible in sport, and there are certain things that are not. By the time of the prize giving, the game was over. The match had ended, and it was over and done with. Off the field, we are all players who play the same sport, and should have respect for each other. That’s what we are taught in sport, and that’s what I believe in. To tell you the truth, I had felt that whatever may have happened earlier, Harmanpreet and Smriti would walk up to my girls and give them a pat on their back after the match was over, and tell them ‘well played’. Coming from players of their calibre and stature, it would have meant the world for our girls. I have seen legends like MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli do this after a game is over. I am sure you have seen this happen after many IPL games or even international games. When it did not happen, and she said things which were disrespectful and hurtful during the prize giving, I decided to walk away with my team. I did not want to stay there anymore, and add to the occasion. Someone had to end it, and by walking away, I did so. We shouldn’t let unpleasant things go on, and by walking away, I tried to put an end to things.
Boria: But Joty, while we are not condoning Harman’s actions and, in fact, I wrote a piece the very next day saying she should have acted like a leader, don’t you think she has a point about umpiring? Let me elaborate this a little. We keep saying that we are striving for equality and that we want the men’s and women’s games to be at par. Now if that’s the case, why can’t we get neutral umpires for an international series between two top sides? How much extra cost will it incur? If you have neutral umpires in place, the question of favouritism and nepotism won’t even arise.
Nigar Sultana: Let me ask you a question for a change. The very same umpires officiated in the T20 series, which India won. In fact, that too was a very close series and I feel we should have done better in the second game and won it, but we did not. But that is not the point here. The moot point is the very same umpires officiated in the T20 series as well. There was not a single complaint from India. Is it because they had won the series? As players, you are always taught that the umpires’ decision is final, and that we have to respect that. Let me also ask you this – had they won the final ODI, would they have raised the issue of umpiring or was it raised because they did not win the series, and they were disappointed and frustrated with the result? You tell me what you as a seasoned journalist feel about this.
Boria: Frankly, Joty, it is not my turn to answer questions today, and these are not questions that I can answer. I am here to know your perspective, and I don’t think it is fair for me to speak for anyone else here. I can’t speak for Harmanpreet or any other player here, and should not.
To go forward, do you think that this series has the potential of opening new doors for your girls? Someone like Marufa Akter, for example, could well be in line for a WPL contract or a BBL contract?
Nigar Sultana: Absolutely, and that’s what I want to see for our girls. Players do the best they can to get better. To get better, you need more opportunities. To see my players play in the WPL or in the BBL or the Hundred will be a dream come true for me. That’s why we play this game, isn’t it? And from what we have been able to show against India, we do have the potential to be very good cricketers. Our players have the potential to make it big, and if this series opens up doors for some of them, that’s the best outcome possible. It has also given us the confidence of doing well in future tournaments, and I am sure the girls will take the field with greater self-confidence and self-belief in future. This series could well turn out to be a watershed moment for the game in Bangladesh.
Also Read: Both ICC and BCCI Deserve Credit for Harmanpreet Kaur Ban