'Want to focus on my batting': Nigar Sultana on decision to leave T20I captaincy

Nisshin, Sep 20 (IANS) Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana has stated that her decision to leave the T20I captaincy is to focus on her batting, brushing aside the reports that she was hurt after not getting support from the Bangladesh Cricket Board during tough times.

Sultana had informed the BCB of her decision to leave the T20I captaincy following the Asian Games and opened up on the rationale behind that after Bangladesh's loss to India in the Asian Games semifinal on Sunday.

"No, it's totally (false that I left the captaincy because I was hurt). As a batter, as a player, I have a lot more to give to my country and my team. So I want to focus on that, and that's why I made this decision," Nigar told the media after the 114-run defeat to India at the Korogi Sports Park.

Bangladesh were steamrolled by India in the semifinal as their batters failed to put up a fight in the 196-run chase against the defending gold medallists.

The Bangladeshi skipper admitted the shortcomings of the batters, while also pointing out that the bowlers could have fared better.

"When you're chasing a big total, this kind of collapse is natural. With slightly better bowling, we could have restricted them to fewer runs," said Nigar.

"When a team collapses for so few runs, we as batters definitely took no responsibility. If even one top-order batter had stayed till the end, we could have added more runs," she said.

Nigar further pointed out that the team's preparation was also a concern and that they hardly had any training facilities.

'We have virtually no training facilities here. Had we played that first match against China, it would have been much better for the whole team. But we missed that opportunity too. Overall, I'll say the entire team played very poor cricket," said Nigar.

While India and Sri Lanka will battle for the gold medal, Bangladesh will face Pakistan for a bronze medal. "We have a good record against Pakistan. There is a sense of positivity there," the skipper said on the upcoming game.

--IANS

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