Born on this day, 1st August 1997, current ODI and T20 International player for Bangladesh, Nigar Sultana.
Nigar made her international debut in 2015/16 when she played in a T20 match against Pakistan at Karachi. The new wicket keeper for Bangladesh was immediately involved in the action. She ran out Marina Iqbal three balls into the match. Her first stumping victim was Javeria Khan, then Nida Dar. She caught Asmavia Iqbal to round it out. It was an impressive debut.
She batted at number nine in that debut, but you won’t see her bat that low anymore for she has scored the second highest number of runs for Bangladesh in her 52 matches with 858. It is only a matter of time and Nigar will be the first Bangladeshi to pass 1000 runs. Her high score of 113 not out is the highest for her country and one of only two centuries ever scored in T20 Internationals by a Bangladesh player.
It might seem that all of Nigar’s work is in front of the stumps but one must remember that she also wears the wicket keeping gloves. Her 37 dismissals is the highest for Bangladesh. She has played in three T20 World Cups, the most recent in Australia in 2020.
Nigar made her ODI debut in October 2015, also against Pakistan, but not as wicket keeper. Playing purely as a batter, the eighteen year old came into bat at number eight when the score was 53/6. Her 30 not out was the second highest score for the team and she ensured that Bangladesh reached the fifty over mark. It was a mature innings from one so young.
She captained Bangladesh to the ODI World Cup in 2020 in New Zealand.