Sarowar Imran says dressing-room unrest derailed Bangladesh women after Asian Games exit

Bangladesh coach blames reports and uncertainty for collapse

Bangladesh women’s head coach Sarowar Imran has spoken publicly about dressing-room unrest following the team’s failure at the Asian Games in Japan, where a loss to Pakistan in the bronze-medal match forced an empty-handed return home.

While captain Nigar Sultana had shied away from inviting controversy after stepping down as T20I captain, insisting the decision was to focus on her game, Imran said the atmosphere in the camp had changed dramatically since the Asia Cup.

"Everything has suddenly shifted"

“You know who holds the primary responsibility better than I do. However you want to frame it... you’re asking me! We weren’t in this state before. We played in World Cups under entirely different circumstances. Now, everything has suddenly shifted,” Imran told reporters after the game.

The coach traced the slide to a close loss against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup.

“Our problem actually started back in the Asia Cup. We lost a close match against Sri Lanka there. Ever since that loss, various kinds of reports and rumors have been coming out from different places... to the point that we couldn’t even score 120-130 against teams like Indonesia and the UAE. And we are still carrying that exact slump into the Asian Games,” he said.

“That kind of thing can impact the team and the players. I think – I’m not entirely sure, but – it could be one of the reasons. No excuses, but it could be a factor. We just aren’t able to hit our stride; we can’t seem to reach that level at all,” he added.

Speculation on futures

Imran said speculation about coaching changes during a tournament was destabilising.

“Suppose it is being said about me that I won’t be retained, he won’t be retained, and things like that. This happened during a tournament... We are playing a tournament. In the middle of it, you have sidelined the head coach and the captain, so how can you expect results?” he said.

“My two-year contract is ending in October anyway, so I don’t have any expectations either.”

“Criticism affects individuals on a personal level. The captain made that statement of not continuing as T20I captain only after all of this happened,” Imran said.

Cricbuzz had earlier reported that Nigar was not interested in continuing as T20I captain and that the Bangladesh Cricket Board was planning changes to the coaching staff, with Imran making way for a new head coach. David Hemp is understood to be the frontrunner for the post. Current batting coach Nasiruddin Faruque is also expected to be replaced, with Hemp likely to take charge of batting as well as overall coaching.

Imran said Nigar took the decision to step down as she did not want to be made a scapegoat following the Asian Games.

Infrastructure gap

The coach also highlighted structural issues holding back women’s cricket in Bangladesh.

“They are definitely stuck. And it’s a much larger issue. People watching from the outside – including journalists – might think a team just does net practice and goes out to play, but it doesn’t work like that. There is a whole process behind it,” said Imran.

“Look at Sri Lanka: school cricket is thriving there with hundreds of girls’ schools competing. We don’t have any structure like that. There are no new players coming through; we can barely find 30 players total when we need to call up a squad,” he said.

“So these foundational things need attention. We need school cricket, Under-18 setups, age-group cricket, and dedicated training facilities for women. None of these exist right now. Only when those are established will we start seeing new talent emerge,” he said.

“Of course, infrastructural problems are definitely there. Women’s cricket has only started gaining some traction recently, and it needs to grow properly day by day. Since Faruque bhai took over, I can see efforts being made to treat the women’s side similarly to the men’s. If this continues – if school cricket is launched, U-18 programs begin, HP camps are set up for women, and separate training facilities are built – then in a year’s time, we might actually be able to compete with India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka,” he concluded.