Nigar Sultana to focus on batting after quitting T20I captaincy

Sunday, Nigar Sultana announced that she would no longer serve as captain of T20Is in order to concentrate on her batting. Nigar had previously informed the board that she would not like to remain captain of the T20Is after the Asian Games.

Although she disagrees, there were rumors that Nigar wanted to resign as captain because the board did not provide her with sufficient support during difficult times.

"No, it's completely false that I left because I was hurt," she replied. I have a lot more to contribute to my country and team as a batter and player. After their crushing defeat to India in the Asian Games semi-final, Nigar told reporters, "So I want to focus on that, and that's why I made this decision."

After a 114-run defeat by India in Sunday's semi-final at Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin, Bangladesh's women's batting woes persisted and they were eliminated from the race to win the gold medal at the Asian Games 2026. When Bangladesh were asked to bowl first, they let India score a huge 195/4, and Shafali Verma scored her first T20 international century with an unbeaten 100 off just 49 balls.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, lost for 81 in 15.4 overs and appeared helpless from the start of their innings. Nigar acknowledged that Bangladesh's collapse in pursuit of significant runs was made evident by the significant target set by India.

This kind of collapse is normal when you're chasing a big total. We could have restricted them to fewer runs with slightly better bowling, "said Nigar. "We batters absolutely took no responsibility when a team collapses for so few runs. "We could have added more runs if even one top-order batter had stayed until the end," she said, pointing out that Sri Lanka had scored 107 runs earlier in the day against Pakistan on the same surface.

She also said that their preparation was a problem because, after rain messed up their training schedule in Japan, they could only practice for two days. Both their planned warm-up match against China and their game against China were postponed due to inclement weather.

We don't have any training facilities at all. It would have been much better for the entire team if we had played China in our first match. However, we also missed that opportunity. Overall, I would say that the entire team played very poorly," Nigar stated.

She believes her team can win the bronze medal match against Pakistan that Bangladesh will now play. "Our record against Pakistan is good. As she gets ready to lead the team once more in the T20 format, she said, "There is a sense of positivity there."