Nahida Akter Named Bangladesh Women's T20I Captain

Nahida Akter is the new Bangladesh women's T20I captain, the Bangladesh Cricket Board confirmed on Sunday, with Sobhana Mostary named her deputy. The left-arm spinner replaces Nigar Sultana, who gave up the role after the Asian Games to concentrate on her batting. Nigar keeps the one-day captaincy. Bangladesh will therefore run separate captains in the two white-ball formats.

Nahida had been Nigar's T20I vice-captain since 2022, when Nigar took the job. Four years in the leadership group made her the obvious successor, and she had been widely tipped for it before the announcement.

Four years as the deputy

Rafiqul Islam, who chairs the BCB women's wing, described a collective decision rather than a single call. "We sat with members of the selection panel along with others and decided to hand over the T20I captaincy to Nahida," he told Cricbuzz. He added that she "has been the vice-captain for a pretty long time."

Nigar's exit from the role was not something the board had planned for. IANS reported that the decision caught the BCB off guard, and that Nigar, 29, had been unhappy with her recent treatment by the board. The second claim came without a named source and the board has not addressed it publicly.

Separate captains in the two white-ball formats

Bangladesh now carry two captains across the white-ball formats. IANS reported that Nigar led the ODI side on a recent three-match tour of Australia and stays in that post. The structure:

• T20I captain: Nahida Akter
• T20I vice-captain: Sobhana Mostary
• ODI captain: Nigar Sultana

Mostary bats in the top order. Nahida bowls spin. That puts a batter and a bowler in the two senior roles. Bangladesh spent four years with a wicketkeeper in charge, which is a different vantage point again.

The appointment also settles a question the board had been carrying since the Asian Games. Nigar's decision arrived without warning. Naming her long-standing deputy, rather than opening the job up, is the least disruptive answer available to a selection panel with a tournament four weeks away.

Thailand is the first assignment

Nahida's opening task is the ICC Women's Emerging Nations Trophy in Thailand. Bangladesh start against Pakistan on 12 November. That is a little under four weeks away, which leaves a short runway for a captain taking a side into a tournament for the first time.

The job itself changes shape. Nigar kept wicket and watched every ball from behind the stumps. Nahida will spend four overs of each innings at the top of her mark, setting her own field and then bowling to it. Mostary is likely to carry more of the in-game load than a conventional vice-captain. Thailand will be the first look at how they divide it.