A golden chance to engender inspiration

We are trying to deliver our best here. Just want to motivate and encourage the young cricketers, who are eagerly waiting for us to do well here.

— Nigar had said in an interview with the International Cricket Council (ICC).

When the Nigar Sultana-led Bangladesh women's cricket team march onto the University Oval in Dunedin to play South Africa in the wee hours of Saturday, a brand new chapter in the country's cricketing history will commence by marking the Tigresses' first-ever appearance in the ODI World Cup. 

The 12th edition of the mega event, which already began with the hosts New Zealand taking on the West Indies currently in Mount Maunganui, has a mixed bag of various challenges on offer for the inexperienced Tigresses. More importantly, however, with it arrives the opportunity to make an impactful statement amid global exposure. 

But results aside, for a crop of players who had to tackle the conservative mindset of the society and, in some cases, their families' restrictions in order to make it to this grand stage, it will be a glorious opportunity to inspire more girls to take up the sport in future. And that's what skipper Nigar intends to accomplish as well. 

"We are trying to deliver our best here. Just want to motivate and encourage the young cricketers, who are eagerly waiting for us to do well here," Nigar had said in an interview with the International Cricket Council (ICC). 

However, for the only 42-ODI-old Bangladesh, the task will be no less daunting since apart from venturing into their maiden ODI World Cup, this will be their first tour to New Zealand -- a place their male compatriots encountered the harshest challenges over the years. In fact, this is the first time that Nigar and Co are set to face the vastly experienced Australia, England, New Zealand and the West Indies. 

And although Bangladesh enter the tournament ranked sixth -- above the likes of Pakistan and the Windies -- in the ICC ODI rankings, this bit of statistics should not be overly read into as their ratings had escalated due to a three-match ODI series win over a feeble Zimbabwe recently. 

Nevertheless, the ranking boost aided the Tigresses to land into the mega event after the World Cup Qualifier was halted midway due to Covid upsurge last year. 

But Bangladesh fans can afford to buckle up with excitement as the likes of Jahanara Alam, Salma Khatun and Rumana Ahmed are definitely no strangers when it comes to punching above their weights. Cases in point: their recent win over Pakistan in the World Cup Qualifier and their Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup triumph by beating India in 2018. 

Looking back to 1999 when Bangladesh's men's cricket team stunned all in their inaugural World Cup, with wins over Scotland and cricketing powerhouse Pakistan, it had instilled a great amount of belief in the following generations of players. 

Now, arguably, a similar opportunity lies in front of the Tigresses. Even a few acts of bravery from the Tigresses' ranks, like Sharmin Akhter's fighting 81-run knock against defending champions England in the warm-up, could help lift the spirit of the nation in the upcoming days.