Nigar Sultana wants Bangladesh to beat Scotland in their opening match of the women's T20 World Cup on October 3 and set the tone for the rest of the tournament. Beating Scotland would be a "huge achievement", she said, since Bangladesh haven't won a match in their last four World Cup appearances, and have won just one game in five editions.
Sultana, however, clarified that Bangladesh were not taking Scotland lightly. "We want to win the first match," she said. "It will be a huge achievement for the team. The team will get into a flow when that happens. We can then dream of something bigger. We are hungry for it.
"Scotland, though, are playing good cricket. Generally teams arrive at the World Cup with a lot of expectations. They won't let you win easily. They don't give up without a fight. We are mentally prepared to face those challenges.
"I have played four World Cups but we have never won a game in those editions. The last time we won was in the 2014 tournament [against Sri Lanka]. We have played well in previous editions but playing well only means something when you can win."
Sultana and Bangladesh are dreaming big. They want to challenge England, West Indies and South Africa, the others in their group in the first round, and are hoping to get into the semi-finals.
"To play in the semi-final, we have to win against those three teams, too," Sultana said. "We have different plans against each team. If we can execute our gameplan, then it will good for us. We have defeated South Africa in T20Is [twice in 13 completed matches]. We rarely meet England, only in World Cups, so it might be difficult for them, too. We all know that we have a good spin attack."
The tournament was initially supposed to be held in Bangladesh, but following political unrest in the country in July-August, the ICC relocated it to the UAE.
"For a long time, we prepared with the understanding that the World Cup will be held at home," Sultana said. "It is not in our control, so there's no point thinking about it anymore. We played in Abu Dhabi in 2021, where the wickets were nice. Sharjah is a new venue for us, but we will play two practice matches, which will give us some idea.
"Other teams will face similar challenges, so the faster we can adapt to those challenges, it will help us play better in the tournament's main matches."
Batting a concern for Bangladesh
Bangladesh haven't done well with the bat in their last two home series, against India and Australia, and also lost to India and Sri Lanka in the women's Asia Cup earlier this year.
Giving Sultana confidence, though, are newcomers like Shathi Rani and the uncapped Taj Nehar, who was picked ahead of the more experienced Rumana Ahmed.
"Batting is definitely a concern but we saw some improvements among the batters during the 'A' team tour [of Sri Lanka]," she said. "We still believe that we can do well as most of our players have also done well in the domestic tournaments. I hope they continue their form in the World Cup.
"We included Taj for the middle-order, although she doesn't have experience. We saw her in the league [Women's National Cricket League] where she showed good approach and intent. She can play the big shots. If you have followed our recent international matches, we failed in showing intent. Shathi was the highest run-getter in the league. She can go after the bowling, and you can see those in some of her innings. She can use the powerplay quite well. She has proved herself to come at this stage."
Bangladesh have a strong spin attack that includes left-arm spinner Nahida Akter and 19-year-old legspinner Rabeya Khan. Sultana paid a glowing tribute to young Rabeya, who is the team's highest wicket-taker in T20Is this year [14 wickets in 12 games]. "Rabeya is one of our finest bowlers. She has taken our team to a different level through her contributions in both formats. She is a great fielder. She is good with the bat too but doesn't take batting seriously. She is maturing slowly. If there's someone I rely with the ball in tough situations after Nahida, it is definitely Rabeya."