BCB Abandons Nigar Sultana Over Harmanpreet Handshake Snub

Nigar Sultana and Harmanpreet Kaur [Source: AFP]A controversy broke out during the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 match between India and Bangladesh. At the toss, Bangladesh Women captain Nigar Sultana refused to shake hands with her Indian counterpart, Harmanpreet Kaur.The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has distanced itself from the incident, claiming that refusing a handshake with Harmanpreet was entirely Sultana’s decision.Apart from receiving flak for her unsporting behaviour, the 29-year-old could also be removed as Bangladesh captain over team’s underwhelming results. BCB distances itself from Nigar Sultana and Harmanpreet Kaur controversyIn the first semifinal of the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai earlier this week, Bangladesh Women won the toss and opted to field first. However, Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana refused to shake hands or interact with Harmanpreet Kaur.Distancing itself from the incident, BCB Women’s committee chairman Rafiqul Islam Babu said, “Of course, it was her own decision (not to shake hands with Harmanpreet). We believe sports bring the world together. We want friendly relations with all countries, not just India, and so whatever she did was entirely her personal decision.”Also Read- Smriti Mandhana Gets A Send-Off From Bangladesh Star After Flop Show In SemisNigar Sultana had an altercation with India’s Deepti SharmaUnfortunately for Bangladesh, Nigar Sultana’s unexplained feud with Team India did not end by refusing a handshake with Harmanpreet Kaur.The Bangladesh skipper also had an intense argument with Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma. The incident occurred during the tenth over of the Bangladesh run chase, when an on-strike Sultana pushed back the ball towards the Indian spinner. Deepti Sharma fired back a throw but accidentally hit Sultana on her leg. The Bangladesh captain took offence and exchanged a few words with Deepti in the heat of the moment, but the incident did not escalate further.Nigar Sultana’s controversial history with Harmanpreet KaurThe history between Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana and Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been marked by a long-running and increasingly intense rivalry both on and off the field.It all began way back in mid-2023, when an infuriated Harmanpreet smashed her stumps after being given out LBW by the umpire. During the post-match presentation ceremony, the cricketer mockingly asked to “bring the umpires” out to collect their tied-series trophy.In response, Nigar ordered her entire team to walk out of the photo session, saying that Harmanpreet Kaur “could have shown better manners”.A couple of years later while addressing rumours of physically abusing and slapping junior teammates, the Bangladesh skipper denied the claims and said “Am I Harmanpreet that I would go around hitting the stumps like that?”.It is worth noting that the two captains also did not shake hands with each other at the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup in England earlier this year.Nigar Sultana captaincy under threatBangladesh Women lost its semifinal match to India by 40 runs to bow out of the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup race. With Bangladesh also failing to make much impact in the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England a couple of months ago, the future of Nigar Sultana as national captain has now fallen under scrutiny. The Women’s committee chairman said “There are many shortcomings in the team. We have not been able to beat the bigger teams. We played well in the World Cup too but lost because of small mistakes. We are working to make the team stronger and more competitive. After the Asian Games we will decide what can be done.”Also Read- After Sachin Tendulkar, Joe Root Breaks Virat Kohli's Massive WTC Record