Bangladesh women’s cricket captain Nigar Sultana Joty has broken her silence after fast bowler Jahanara Alam accused her of physically assaulting junior players in the national team. While firmly denying the allegations, Joty also took a pointed dig at India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, referencing the 2023 controversy in which Harmanpreet smashed the stumps after a disputed LBW decision during India’s tour of Bangladesh.
Speaking to Daily Cricket, Joty dismissed the allegations as baseless and questioned why she would ever act violently toward teammates.
“Why would I hit anyone? I mean, why would I strike the stumps with my bat? Am I Harmanpreet, that I would go around hitting the stumps like that?” she said.
“In my personal space, if I’m cooking or something, I might bang my bat or helmet — that’s my own business. But why would I do that to someone else?”
Joty has come under scrutiny after Jahanara, currently living in Australia, claimed that junior cricketers had phoned her alleging that the captain had slapped and mistreated them.
The Bangladesh skipper strongly rejected these claims, saying such incidents would have been immediately reported to team management if they were true.
“Someone who hasn’t been here for six or seven years says juniors called her in Australia asking for help,” Joty said.
“If I really harmed someone, is there no team management, no coaching staff? Am I the ultimate authority? Why would a player call someone overseas instead of reporting it here?”
Background on the Controversy
Joty recently led Bangladesh in the Women’s World Cup 2025, where the team managed just one win — against Pakistan in Colombo. India went on to win the tournament, defeating South Africa in the final in Navi Mumbai.
Jahanara, in an earlier interview with journalist Riasad Azim, claimed that juniors reported being physically assaulted by the captain. However, Joty insists that no such incident ever occurred and urged people to verify the facts with players currently in the setup.
“Ask the others whether I’ve ever done anything like that,” she said.
“The way I’ve been portrayed is completely untrue.”
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is expected to look into the matter as the controversy continues to unfold.
