The uncertainty surrounding Bangladesh women’s team may have taken a toll on the players during the Asian Games, head coach Sarwar Imran suggested after their medal hopes ended with a defeat to Pakistan on Tuesday.
Bangladesh lost the bronze medal match by 31 runs, finishing an Asian Games without a medal for the first time in their women’s cricket history.
Sarwar pointed to what he described as a stream of negative discussions around the team, particularly during the tournament, saying such developments can affect players even if there are no visible problems inside the dressing room.
“Negative news. It may have an impact on the team and the players. I’m not sure, but it could be a reason. No excuses, but it could be a reason,” he told reporters after the Pakistan match.
The Bangladesh setup was already facing changes before the bronze medal contest. Nigar Sultana Joty had decided to give up the T20I captaincy after the Asian Games, making Tuesday’s match her final assignment as captain. Sarwar, meanwhile, had only about a month left on his head-coach contract.
It was against that backdrop that Sarwar spoke about speculation over the futures of the coaching staff and players.
“Suppose it is being said about me that I won’t be retained, he won’t be retained, and things like that. This happening during a tournament… we are playing a tournament. In the middle of it, you have sidelined the head coach and the captain, so how can you expect [results]?” he said.
Sarwar traced the negative atmosphere back to the Asia Cup, saying it became more noticeable after Bangladesh’s narrow defeat to Sri Lanka.
He also acknowledged that the team’s problems were not limited to what was happening away from the field. Bangladesh’s lack of boundary-hitting power, in particular, stood out to him.
“You see every team is hitting sixes easily, but our team cannot even hit sixes. The players who used to hit them are not even at that level now,” Sarwar said.
The coach believes rebuilding the players’ confidence will be central to addressing the problems, although he admitted Bangladesh are currently struggling to provide that boost.
“I think the solution is psychological. We have to boost them up, but we are not able to boost them up. That is the situation,” he said.
Sarwar did not, however, suggest that the dressing room itself was divided. Asked about team bonding, he said, “Everything is fine.”
Bangladesh had won silver at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games and bronze in 2023, but this time they failed to reach the podium after losing to India in the semi-final and Pakistan in the bronze medal match.
