BCB steer clear of Nigar's handshake row, but her captaincy future hangs in balance

Rafiqul Islam Babu, Bangladesh Cricket Board’s women's committee chairman, defended national captain Nigar Sultana’s decision to not shake hands with Harmanpreet Kaur in the semi-final of the ongoing Asia Cup, but clarified that it wasn’t the decision of the board.

Since last year’s men’s Asia Cup, Indian captains have refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts due to political tensions between the two country. Out of nowhere, on Thursday, Nigar decided to jump on the bandwagon.

“Of course, it was her own decision (not to shake hands with Harmanpreet),” said Babu. “We believe sports bring the world together. We want friendly relations with all countries, not just India and so whatever she did was entirely her personal decision.

Bangladesh were eliminated from the ongoing Asia Cup after losing their semi-final against India by 40 runs while chasing 150. Babu indicated that Nigar’s future as Bangladesh captain will be assessed after the forthcoming Asian Games as complaints have been lodged against her for misconduct.

“We have discussed the thing (performance and complaint) in total with the board president and since they are in Asian Games we will assess the situation after the conclusion of the games.

“First, we will see how the team performs at the Asian Games, then decide what needs to be done,” Babu said. “There are many shortcomings in the team. We have not been able to beat the bigger teams. We played well in the World Cup too but lost because of small mistakes. We are working to make the team stronger and more competitive. After the Asian Games we will decide what can be done,” he concluded.

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