Dhaka, Sep 1 (UNI) Bangladesh opener Fargana Hoque, who will be an integral part of the Bangladesh squad at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, believes that the team’s long-time preparation will benefit them come the big event.
“We’ve been preparing for a long time,” she said in an interview with The Daily Star.
“But utimately, the quality of our preparation will show in the World Cup, which arrives every four years, unlike the (biennial) T20 World Cup, so we’re determined to make it count,” Hoque said.
Delving into the team’s strengths and weaknesses, Hoque, who was the top-scorer for Bangladesh in the 2022 edition, admitted that the side was self-aware about working as a unit and not depending on individuals.
“Our strength is that everyone knows we can only succeed as a team, not as individuals,” she said.
“(Nigar Sultana) Joty is a fantastic player, but she knows she can’t win matches alone. In our victories, contributions have come from across the side,” Hoque said.
“We don’t have a super batter striking at 100-150 to finish games single-handedly, but our spin attack is world-class,” she said.
“The weakness is pace, if the board invests in developing fast bowlers, we could become a much more complete side,” Hoque said.
Meanwhile, her fellow top-order batter Sharmin Akther Supta believes that even though the team has batting depth, it will be on the top three to shoulder the major responsibility.
“If top-order batters don’t score big, it becomes difficult for the middle or lower-order,” Supta said.
“When we play well at the top, the middle-order batters can play with a relaxed frame of mind,” she said.
“But I don’t believe that we lack in batting depth. Our No.5 and No.6 batters and even our lower-order has done really well in the qualifiers,” Supta said.
Supta, who had a good stint in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Pakistan – finishing as the second-highest run getter – revealed that working with power-hitting coach Julian Wood helped develop a positive intent within the team.
“He (Wood) worked on how we can generate power and develop the correct mindset for T20s,” she added.
“He told us that 50-over cricket and T20 cricket is different and how we can maintain a positive intent,” Supta said.
“But before that, we have to know how to play power shots and develop the belief that we can play the shots. It was a good session for us,” she added.
Bangladesh will begin their World Cup campaign against Pakistan on October 2 at Colombo.
