‘Bangladesh women have been punching above their weight’

The Bangladesh Women's cricket team has been going through some tough times in 2024.

After losing the ODI and T20I series against Australia at home by 3-0 margins, the Tigresses went on to get clean swept by India 5-0 in a T20I series.

All of these losses come at a time when the T20 Women's World Cup will be hosted in Bangladesh in October later this year. 

With the pressure piling up on captain Nigar Sultana Joty and co, we tried to find out exactly what ails Bangladesh's women's cricket and how things can get better. 

We spoke to cricket commentator and women's cricket analyst Annesha Ghosh on the differences between India's and Bangladesh's cricket infrastructure for women and also how things can improve for the Tigresses.

"If I'm being very honest, Bangladesh have been doing a very good job for the most part. The men's team never won a major trophy but you see that the women's team won the Asia Cup," Annesha said to The Business Standard in an exclusive interview. 

Aside from the Asia Cup, Bangladesh also managed to get a T20I and ODI series win over Pakistan last year along with their first-ever ODI and T20I wins over South Africa in South Africa.

The Tigresses also drew an ODI series against India last year 1-1, which was also a historic achievement for the side.

"The Bangladesh women have been punching above their weight when you think about it. When they won the Asia Cup, they were not the strongest team or the favourites. Neither were they the favourites against Pakistan or South Africa or India when they won," she explained.

"Women's cricket in India has been there for much longer than it has been in Bangladesh and I'd say there's a 10-year gap in progress between both teams. India, Australia and England started at the same time, so given what Bangladesh have managed in a much shorter time needs to be appreciated," Annesha added.

She feels fans need to stick by the women's team and encourage them despite the string of bad results recently as they have overcome many barriers to be in this position.

"If you talk to the players, you will see most of them are from very humble backgrounds and had to face a lot of discrimination and bullying in a society where women playing outdoors is shunned. It's the same in India too as a matter of fact," she said. 

"A lot of times when people see girls playing, they get called 'hijra', you know. So these girls have been through a lot to do what they're passionate about and are trying their best to bring about a positive change and make their country proud," Annesha explained.  

The work of the head of the Women's cricket wing Habibul Bashar has impressed Annesha and she feels the team will be in the right direction under the former men's national team captain and former men's team selector.

Some of the women's team players visited a local school in Sylhet, during that series and pictures and videos went viral on social media of the Tigresses being greeted by the students. 

There were students queuing up for selfies and autographs with the captain Joty and fast bowler Marufa Akter and Annesha feels such initiatives by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will help popularise women's cricket in Bangladesh.

"The decision to go to such a school and then see the reaction from the kids was truly an amazing thing. It will be a great advert for women's cricket in Bangladesh I feel. Steps like these from Habibul Bashar will move women's cricket forward," she said.

Despite the progress women's cricket has made Annesha feels the salary gap between men and women in India is too great and needs changing.

"A woman player in the A category gets paid Rs 50 lakh over and above match fees and Rs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh are allotted for B and C categories respectively per year. The central contract for male cricketers has four categories where the lowest category player draws an annual salary of INR 1 crore," she explains.

Bangladesh's women's team players recently had their salaries unpaid for over five months and were paid only after the news surfaced on local media.

The poor salaries being paid to women's team cricketers have been a big talking point among people and in the media for a while now. 

After much criticism, their salaries were increased by 20 percent in June this year by BCB president Nazmul Hassan.

The highest salary a player can earn under the BCB contract per month is one lakh taka and the minimum is 30,000 thousand taka, much lower than what the Indian women get paid.

Annesha felt the next step for women's cricket in Bangladesh was to have more academies countrywide.

"There need to be more institutions like the BKSP in as many areas in Bangladesh as possible so that more girls with such talent can get the right guidance from an early age and hopefully eventually represent the country. That's the best way to move women's cricket forward and take Bangladesh to newer and greater heights," she concluded.