Bangladesh's Nigar Sultana drags world champion Harmanpreet Kaur into mix while responding to assault claims; ‘Am I …?’

In a startling development, Bangladesh women's team captain Nigar Sultana Joty took a dramatic swipe at India's World Cup-winning skipper Harmanpreet Kaur into picture while responding to physical assault allegations recently. Notably Nigar Sultana was in India recently leding Bangladesh in the ICC Women's World Cup 2025.

The controversy erupted when out-of-contention Bangladesh women's pacer Jahanara Alam claimed that several junior cricketers reached out to her claiming that Nigar Sultana had “hit” and “mistreated” them.

In response to the allegations, Nigar Sultana dismissed them as baseless and even asked why these allegations are being told to someone who is out of the national team for years now. “Why would I hit anyone?" Nigar Sultana questioned in an interview with Daily Cricket.

"I mean, why would I strike the stumps with my bat? Am I Harmanpreet, that I would go around hitting the stumps like that? Why would I do it? In my personal space, if I’m cooking or something, I might bang my bat around, I might hit my helmet—that’s my own business,” added Nigar Sultana, thus making her refusal provocative.

Nigar Sultana also urged to speak with her teammates to find out what's right or wrong. "But why would I do something like that to someone else? Why would I get physical? Just because someone says so? You can ask the other players or anyone else whether I’ve ever done anything,” she added.

What's the controversy regarding Harmanpreet?

Nigar Sultana's Harmanpreet reference came after the Indian captain's controversial behaviour during India's 2023 tour of Bangladesh. During the third ODI, Harmanpreet questioned the standard of umpiring after being given LBW and also smashed the stumps in frustration. Not only that, she also mocked the Bangladesh team.

The incident didn't stop there. The Indian skipper, during the post-match presentation, called the umpiring “pathetic” and even taunted the Bangladesh players then the home team were posing with the trophy by yelling “bring the umpires too”.

What did Jahanara Alam say about Nigar Sultana?

In a recent interview with Bangladeshi journalist Riasad Azim, Alam, who is currently residing in Australia, claimed that juniors from the national team had reached out to her stating, “Please save us, Joty apu is beating us and finishing us off.”

Nigar Sultana questioned the logic behind such allegations. “The way I’ve been described in front of everyone—I’m not that kind of girl at all,” stated the Bangladesh captain. “If I really beat someone or harmed someone in any way, is there no team management, no manager, no coaching staff? Am I the ultimate authority then? Why would a player call someone living in Australia? She could’ve shared it with anyone here,” she added.