Tigresses ready to take on world champions

Bangladesh Women will face a daunting task on Thursday when they take on world champions Australia in Visakhapatnam in the ongoing Women’s World Cup. After a thrilling opening win against Pakistan, the Tigers have since suffered defeats to England, New Zealand, and South Africa. Yet, despite the results, the team has consistently shown character and fight, keeping games competitive even against the tournament’s top sides.

Sobhana Mostary, one of Bangladesh’s key batters, spoke at the pre-match press conference about the challenges and mindset ahead of facing Australia.

Bangla Press Desk: “Tomorrow we play against Australia. We have experience playing against them before. We will work on our strengths, and we are also working on the areas where we are lacking,” Sobhana said.

She highlighted the encouragement the team has received from the captain and management.

“Our captain and team management have encouraged us, saying that we have tried our best in every match until the last ball. We go on the field to fight, to win. We never just go out to play nicely. We must win, and we will win. After that, it depends on how we play and what we want to do on the field.”

Experience remains a learning curve for the young Tigers. Sobhana reflected on the lessons from the last four years, noting the importance of building confidence through exposure to high-quality opposition.

“If you look at the last four years, it’s basically the same team we have played with… young players don’t overthink things; they try to give their best,” she said. “They just play using their strengths.”

Despite the tough schedule, the team is drawing on lessons from recent matches, particularly their performances against England and South Africa, where moments of brilliance were overshadowed by inexperience and dropped catches. Sobhana emphasized the importance of learning from those experiences and applying it against Australia.

“After yesterday’s match, there was no negative talk. Everyone—senior players, juniors, management—spoke about positive things: our batting, the last ten overs in batting, our bowling. Everyone discussed our positives. So maybe we receive it positively and think positively. This will help us in the next matches against Australia, India, and also Sri Lanka.”

BP/SP