NEW DELHI: Bangladesh women’s cricket captain Nigar Sultana Joty has broken her silence on allegations that she physically assaulted junior players in the national team — flatly denying the claims while taking a dramatic swipe at India’s World Cup-winning captain Harmanpreet Kaur.The controversy erupted after former Bangladesh pacer Jahanara Alam, currently residing in Australia, alleged that several junior cricketers had contacted her, saying that Sultana had “hit” and “mistreated” them. The Bangladesh captain, however, dismissed the accusation as baseless and questioned why such complaints would be directed to someone who has been away from the team setup for years.
In an interview with Daily Cricket, Sultana not only defended herself but also invoked Harmanpreet’s controversial behaviour during India’s 2023 tour of Bangladesh. The Indian captain had smashed the stumps after an LBW decision and later labelled the umpiring “pathetic” in the post-match presentation — an episode that created international headlines.“Why would I hit anyone? I mean, why would I strike the stumps with my bat? Am I Harmanpreet, that I would go around hitting the stumps like that? Why would I do it?” Sultana said, making her denial both pointed and provocative.“In my personal space, if I’m cooking or something, I might bang my bat around, I might hit my helmet—that’s my own business. But why would I do something like that to someone else? Why would I get physical? Just because someone says so? You can ask the other players or anyone else whether I’ve ever done anything like that.”Alam had earlier claimed that juniors reached out to her from Bangladesh, saying: “Please save us, Joty apu is beating us and finishing us off.” But Sultana questioned the logic behind such allegations.“The way I’ve been described in front of everyone—I’m not that kind of girl at all,” she said. “If I really beat someone or harmed someone in any way, is there no team management, no manager, no coaching staff? Am I the ultimate authority then? Why would a player call someone living in Australia? She could’ve shared it with anyone here.”Sultana recently led Bangladesh in the 2025 Women’s World Cup, where the side managed only one win, defeating Pakistan. The allegations have added an unexpected layer of turbulence to Bangladesh women’s cricket, but the captain remains firm: she insists she has never laid a hand on any teammate.
