“This series would have been ours if we had played a little better,” – Nigar Sultana discusses Bangladesh’s defeat against India in a T20I series.

Bangladesh ultimately defeated India in the third and final T20I of the series, ending a five-year losing streak. Notably, the Nigar Sultana-led team performed admirably in the just-completed three-match series, but sadly, their batting fell short. Even though they were in control of the second T20I, wickets kept dropping one after another, and the squad ultimately fell short by eight runs.

However, in the third T20I, both the bowlers and the hitters played admirably. After limiting the opposing side to 102 runs, Bangladesh initially struggled, but Shamima Sultana played some outstanding cricket to help her team pass the finish line. After the victory, Nigar Sultana pondered how Bangladesh cricket has evolved recently and how a shift in mentality has given them confidence to defeat India.

“We are quite pleased to have defeated India here after a long absence. Against India, we’ve always played close games. We believed that we could have won this series if we had played a little bit better. I keep saying to everyone that the only way we can beat India is if you let your mind convince you that we can. Although I believe I have been effective in that regard, our team still has a lot of work to do. We have changed our thinking, and I believe we might defeat a squad like India,” Nigar was reported as stating by CriCKETMOOD.

I advised Shamima to stick around for the conclusion: Sultana

Even though Shamima lost her wicket in the dying stages of the chase, the opener did her part in keeping the side in a secure position. When lauding Shamima for her performance, the captain, Nigar, gave the batter some advice.

“A run chase is made simpler when a top-order batter plays into the 14th or 15th over, and Shamima did a good job of that. I urged her to stick around until the conclusion. The equation didn’t seem too challenging to me. The chase was simple since we were taking singles. This wicket prevented the ball from landing on the bat. A risky shot might have been taken. She was told to keep playing shots by me. The equation will be simple for us if she takes the innings far,” the captain continued.

A three-match one-day international series between the two teams is now scheduled to start on July 16. The series’ three matches will be included in the ICC Championship cycle.