Nigar Sultana Joty will continue as Bangladesh women’s ODI captain and lead the side on their upcoming tour of Australia.
BCB Women’s Wing chairman Rafiqul Islam Babu confirmed the decision after meeting the national team following their return from the Asian Games.
“Today I told her that she will remain captain and she will go to Australia as captain,” Babu told reporters.
Joty had earlier informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board that she wanted to step down as T20I captain after the Asian Games. However, she wanted to continue leading the team in ODIs. Some uncertainty remained over her ODI leadership after the Asian Games. Babu has now put that uncertainty to rest.
Babu said he met the players alongside BCB president Tamim Iqbal and Women’s Wing vice chairman Tuhin. They discussed the team’s recent performances, discipline and areas that need improvement.
“We spoke about how they can perform better. We told them to maintain discipline and the chain of command within the team,” Babu said.
He also spoke strongly about outgoing head coach Sarwar Imran and his recent comments to the media. Sarwar had questioned changes surrounding the coaching staff and captaincy during the Asian Games.
“Our coach made some unnecessary comments. I think what he said went outside the code of conduct. He is under contract with the BCB, so he cannot make comments like that,” Babu said. “We did not expect this from such a senior coach. He made a serious mistake.”
Babu also criticised the way Joty communicated her decision to leave the T20I captaincy. He said she should have discussed the matter with the Women’s Wing before making the decision.
“We told her that before leaving the T20I captaincy, she could at least have discussed it with her chairman. No matter how much pressure she was under, she could have spoken to us about how the issue could be solved,” he said.
The BCB plans to announce the squad and team management for the Australia tour on September 30.
