Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon expressed his disappointment after the Tigers and then the women’s team ended up on the losing side in consecutive days.
The women’s team led by Nigar Sultana Joty suffered a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of India at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
A day before this, the Tigers were at the receiving end of a 142-run defeat against Afghanistan in the second ODI of the three-match series which saw them lose the series with one match in hand.
The losses coupled with the off-field conundrums seemed to have taken a toll on Papon, who said he was disappointed at the defeats but didn’t want to lose all hope about the women’s team as they were facing a team like India.
“Obviously I am disappointed and feeling of the all the people in the country is the same. However, I am not absolutely disappointed over the women’s defeat,” Papon told the media in Mirpur today.
“The India women’s team is very strong. According to my assessment, they are one of the top three. They (Bangladesh) played well despite that. They will play well. We can’t give them the facilities like the India team gets. But they have good potential,” he said.
“It is their first time here today. When I met them, they told me that they didn’t play a match at the home of cricket before. They had a desire to play in Mirpur. I assured them that it would happen the next time play,” he added.
The country’s cricket was rocked after Tamim Iqbal announced his retirement from international cricket after the defeat in the first ODI against Afghanistan on Thursday. However, he reversed his decision after meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh the very next day.
