Fast bowler rocks boat: Alleges team captain's brutal behaviour, claims physical abuse in team meeting
Dhaka (The Uttam Hindu): A major controversy has erupted within the Bangladesh women's cricket team. Veteran fast bowler Jahanara Alam, who is currently out of the team, has made sensational and serious allegations against captain Nigar Sultana Joty. Jahanara has claimed that Sultana beats her junior players, and this is nothing new.
Jahanara Alam has made these serious allegations following the Bangladesh team's humiliating performance in the ICC Women's World Cup 2025. However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has denied all these allegations.
In an interview with Bangladeshi newspaper Kaler Kantha, 32-year-old Jahanara Alam said that current captain Joti "beats up" the team's junior cricketers. She said, "This is nothing new. Joti beats up junior players a lot. Even during this World Cup, junior players told me, 'No, I won't do that again. I'll have to get slapped again anyway.' I heard from some people, 'I was beaten up yesterday.' Even during the Dubai tour, she called a junior player into a room and slapped him."
Jahanara Alam, who has played 52 ODIs and 83 T20 Internationals for Bangladesh, last played against Ireland in December 2024. She was subsequently dropped from the squad.
He claimed that "systemic politics" has affected most of the team's players. "Actually, I'm not alone; everyone in the Bangladesh team is more or less a victim of this... Here, only one or two people get advanced facilities. In 2021, senior players like me started being excluded from post-COVID camps... That's when the pressure on senior players began," he said.
It's worth noting that in January 2025, the Bangladesh Cricket Board announced that Jahanara Alam had taken a break from the national team due to "mental issues" and had also excluded herself from the central contract. She now lives in Sydney, Australia, and her return to the national team is unlikely.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has issued a press release strongly rejecting Jahanara Alam's allegations. The BCB stated, "The BCB has taken note of recent comments made in the media by a former member of the Bangladesh women's national cricket team... The BCB categorically and strongly denies these allegations, which are baseless, fabricated and devoid of truth."