Tigresses' performances have brought in sponsors believes captain Joty
On the eve of the ODI series against Ireland at home, Nigar shared her thoughts on this matter.
There was a prevailing theory in Bangladesh cricket that there was little interest in women's cricket and the business opportunities were limited, which led to a lack of sponsorships. In the past, many women's series at home struggled to secure sponsors, and there weren't proper arrangements for broadcasting the matches. However, changes have taken place. Now, the team and kit have sponsors, and sponsorships are also secured for series.
Nigar Sultana Joty, the captain of the national women's cricket team, believes that they themselves are responsible for this change. According to the wicketkeeper-batter, they have generated interest in the team through their performance and secured sponsorships on their own. On the eve of the ODI series against Ireland at home, Nigar shared her thoughts on this matter.
Two years ago, the situation was different, and when asked about the change, the Bangladesh captain said, "We have created everything (interest, expectations, sponsorships). If you're here asking if it was better or different before, we have made this happen. Now it's our responsibility to maintain it. I would say trust us, because the team is working hard."
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
"Many times, the performance is visible. But if the results don't come, the negative aspects dominate. This series is an opportunity for our team to bounce back. The thing we have created, Inshallah, could happen in this series... We have many opportunities. Just like the India-Pakistan series we played, we hope that even more people will show interest, and the media will focus more as well," she added.
Despite the improvement, there are concerns regarding Bangladesh's batting. The team has been struggling with expected batting performances for a while. Accepting this, Nigar said, "Batting is a visible issue. Many times, our top-order doesn't score runs, so the middle-order can't handle it. In modern cricket, there's never an opportunity to cover for this. Once it's gone, it can't be covered."
