14 February - Gqeberha - Bangladesh Captain Nigar Sultana post-match press conference

[Reporter]

Captain, unlucky with the loss today. Could you tell us where it went wrong today?

[Joty]

I think in batting I guess we lost our opener so early and I'm trying to get to build a partnership with Savannah and trying to get runs in the power plays because in this kind of track I think if we could get 40 plus runs in the power play it would be help for the team. But we couldn't manage that run and obviously I was trying to play a big role but trying to build up the partnership but I couldn't manage to get a partnership with anyone. Somehow actually Shona was there but she was trying to get some runs in her bat but still couldn't try to manage boundaries over there but in this kind of track I guess against Australia we need the good score in this school where at least 140 plus runs but still I think we will bowl really well today.

[Reporter]

What were the conditions like for batting out there? You made it look pretty easy but no one else really did.

[Joty]

It was a very nice track. I guess the ball coming so nicely in the bat and I was just hanging there and trying to get some runs for the team but the thing is I was just trying to maintain the process and trying to just go through the bat and you know I'm just trying to get myself into there that I can carry forward so it was a very nice track I think.

[Reporter]

What did you say to Marufa when you handed her the ball to open and were you impressed with how she went about it today?

[Joty]

I think she becomes so mature day by day and how she bowls against the world class batter is amazing and I guess she's now pretty confident about bowling and when I was giving her a bowl and I just told her like go with the flow and just be yourself so she's so young and she's so much energy she has in the bowling so she's just trying to do her best.

[Reporter]

I know the result wasn't the one you were looking for from a team perspective but how much confidence do you take out of a knock like that against probably the best bowling attack and the best team in the world and how inspiring do you think it is for maybe some of the younger players in your team as you've proven that you can do it against the best in the world?

[Joty]

I guess if we can see the last match against Sri Lanka we couldn't bowl well just because we lost the match but still I think there are a lot of improvement today we have seen today with the bowling attack and I guess bowlers bowl pretty well today. In a lowest total we at least trying to get along through the match at least they bowl 18 overs so it will be very get very confident for the bowlers for the next matches obviously.

[Reporter]

We were talking about your batting yesterday and how did you work out on this. Australia is a very difficult attack to deal with but against them scoring a half-century is no mean thing at a world cup. How did you approach it when your colleagues were facing difficulties in batting? How did you approach it? How did you get the confidence in you and did this ever come to your mind that you're batting against Australia?

[Joty]

First of all, I was not really batting thinking that I am batting against Australia. I was just looking at the ball and trying to play the way I needed to play at that moment. So automatically I tried to maintain my process and get as many runs as possible in the power play. Then I played a little bit of attacking mode. Later I slowed down my rhythm a bit so that I could play longer. So I actually thought of myself and played in those phases accordingly. As I know that if I can bat longer then it will be beneficial for the team. So I just tried to maintain my rhythm and carry on the innings as much as possible.

So, I was just trying to be myself over there and trying to maintain my process. So, our coaches actually work on me on some issues. I did have some technical issues so I just tried two things differently and it worked today. And I'm just trying to get myself over there and try to play a bit like good innings for the team.

[Reporter]

When the captain of Bangladesh gives such a strong performance against Australia, what message would you like to give to your countrymen by your half-century? Because to play in a World cup where a captain scores a 50 against Australia is a big deal.

[Joty]

First of all, we don't get a lot of opportunities to play against Australia because we only get to play against them in the World Cup, most of the time. We only get to play against them on the World Cup stage. So usually, we have less experience of playing against them. However, our team thought that we are not playing against Australia. We are just playing against a team where we can perform better than the last match. So, I think if there were one or two more batters who could play longer or support me and we could build a partnership, I would be able to play better. So far, people in Bangladesh have a lot of expectations from us. I think they will be a little disappointed but I will say that we are not giving up and you will not give up either. We are working hard and if everything goes well, God will help us and we can maintain the process and perform as a team, we will be able to play better in the next match.

[Reporter]

There was an auction for the Women's Premier League yesterday where no Bangladeshi players were selected. On the other hand, 14 players were selected from Australia. What do you think about this difference between Bangladesh and Australia? Because everyone wanted to have a selection based on equality but Bangladesh missed as a whole. Jahanara, Rumana, and others were there in the women's T20 challenge before. What do you think about this?

[Joty]

I don't think the IPL auction can define a player or a team. The most important thing is that it totally depends on the franchise whom they want to take or who they don't. So far, I don't think it's bad luck for them. We might not be able to be selected but I still think there are world-class players in our team who have the capacity to play there. Still, I think maybe they didn't think that we should get selected that's why none of us got selected. But still, I don't think there is anything to be disappointed about. There will be more opportunities ahead since this has just started for the first time and it'll not be stopped, I hope. So, Next year, God willing, we will see that 2-3 players from Bangladesh can be selected. So far, none of us is actually thinking about it. We just hope that we can perform well as a team for our country so that the whole world can see how we are improving day by day.

[Reporter]

Judging from the performance from today, do you still believe that the team can go through to the next round?

[Joty]

Obviously, I think we did very well in the bowling side and obviously that gave us more confidence to bowl against New Zealand in the next match. So we had some positive in this match and we just wanted to try to carry forward in the next match.

[Reporter]

First of all, congratulations! You played an extraordinary inning. The match was very close. You performed so well with a team like Australia. You said that if one or two more batsmen had played well, the thing that no one could have supported you. What do you think is the need to do to overcome this?

[Joty]

First of all, you'll see that when Sabhana and Shamim played well in the last match, we had an expectation from them that if they could have started well today, we could have made more runs. So far, I think someone needed to play for a longer period of time there. What is happening to us actually is that we are not able to bring runs in the last five overs as other teams do. I don't think this is an issue, also that we get less time but if we can improve 10-15% here, then we will be able to increase the team's total and at the same time we will be able to set up a fighting score against other teams.