NAVI MUMBAI: “I don’t know,” smiles Bangladesh’s Fargana Hoque Pinky.
The Bangladesh cricketer is sitting on a chair at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam. The question was about their first official WODI. It had come on November 26, 2011, against Ireland during a World Cup qualifier. Did she remember the number on the cap that was given to her?
It was a historic day for Bangladesh. Having secured their qualification status after beating the USA, all 11 members of the team made their official debuts against Ireland, even though they had been playing for a few years. “At that time," she says, "we did not know because all 11 players made their debuts. There was no feeling of how to debut or what it means. Back then, it was all about participation and not much interest in anything else. We understood the importance of the debut and cap only a few years later."
That was just one of the many firsts for the Bangladesh women’s cricket team and Pinky. She was a part of the first official T20I they played against Ireland in August 2012, their first-ever T20I World Cup match in 2014, when they qualified as the hosts of the tournament and the team that beat India to win the Asia Cup in 2018. She scored the first-ever ODI World Cup fifty when they made their tournament debut in 2022. First to score an ODI century, at home and overseas… the list goes on. In many ways, Pinky has been Bangladesh’s forever No. 1 as she gave her blood and sweat to the sport.
Her journey began in the Gaibandha district of Northern Bangladesh. Growing up in a sports obsessed family, all Pinky dreamt of was batting. “If you don't dream, you can't do anything,” Pinky’s eyes light up talking about her love for batting. “From my childhood, when I studied, when I hung out with my friends, I always had a bat. I kept it close to me. I thought someone would take my bat. I kept it close to me like this (imitates holding a bat). My only goal was batting. I was always thinking that if you don't practice, you can't do anything. These things made me feel that I am different from others.”
However, her road towards that dream had some significant obstacles. There were restrictions from the family and people around her growing up when she wanted to become a cricketer. It was her grandmother, Tahiragh, who stood up for Pinky.
Pinky sits up with a rush of happiness whilst talking about her grandmother. “She used to fight with my father, saying, ‘no one should disturb her, nothing doing. She has potential, and you are stopping her. You just push her to grow’. At the time, she was younger, stronger. She used to come to the ground and watch me train, fight with people who talked about me. She supported me so much. Nobody loves like this. She always saw the big picture and believed in me, even today. I love her so much, I have no words to explain (what she means),” says Pinky.
It did not take long for her to go up the ranks after getting selected at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP). Not long after, she moved to Dhaka. Understanding the potential, her family stood behind her at a time when there were not enough monetary benefits in the women’s game. For Pinky, it did not matter. She loved the sport and wanted to play cricket every single day. While she continued to try and do that in every game, lack of exposure and international matches growth wasn't always linear.
During this phase, the senior players, including Pinky, led the transformation. She watched and learnt from the best of the Asian stalwarts whom she had access to at the time. The more she watched, played and trained, the better she understood the sport and her own game. There were challenges, lots of ups and downs, but Pinky persisted with the support of her family — first her parents, and then her husband Rafiq Hasan Mishon (a textile engineer) since 2017. “I feel it's not my sole efforts but also my parents’ and husband’s support that has brought me to this stage today. My husband cares so much for my cricket. He always supports me, encourages me. Even my in-laws, who live in Dhaka, trust me and allow me to put 100 per cent every time I am busy with my cricket. Our journey is not a cakewalk; it is actually very tough, but then I am trying to enjoy this in bits and pieces,” she says.
The bits and pieces of enjoyment she refers to are the small milestones — the first WC fifty, first ODI hundred and so on. However, even as Pinky and Bangladesh cricket grew in confidence over the last five years or so, the sport itself has evolved and grown at a rapid pace. To sustain, adapt and keep improving to compete at the highest level has not been easy. In striving to adapt and be the best version of herself, Pinky, 32 now, looks up to the likes of Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry.
“I like them a lot. In Asia, there is a perception about players who are 30-plus with regard to their fitness, running and cricket. Unlike England and Australia, in Asian countries, age is not looked at positively. The Healys and Perrys are dominating (in mid-30s). They get support from their cricket board and take this as a challenge. I also want that, basically, not only in our country, but in Asia. Yes, definitely, fitness, practice, and performance are very important. But these cricketers, who are 30+, are good. They will fail at times, but if we support them, they can win many matches for the country.”
This World Cup, however, has not gone in her favour. As someone who takes immense pride in contributing for Bangladesh cricket, 47 runs in four matches tells the story. But Pinky is proud of the next generation of talent coming through. Marufa Akter has made the world sit up and take notice. So has Rabeya Khan. Pinky feels they, along with Sumaiya Akter, Shorna Akter, and Sobhana Mostary, are promising talents for the future.
“I never imagined that a World Cup would come in my lifetime. It's a great achievement for us that women's cricket is getting due recognition, and people are coming to watch our match. New cricketers are coming, and it is a boost for them that our game is reaching a wider audience. Their quality is on another level. If they can take care of their fitness, lifestyle, cricket and are nurtured to practice and compete at the international level, they have a bright future. If they have this continuity, I think they can dominate Bangladesh cricket,” she says with pride.
Pinky herself is not done just yet. She knows it is the batting that has let the team down in this World Cup. The 32-year-old reiterates how if she and the other batters can consistently get to the 230-250 mark, they can dominate and close out matches. As for her own cricket, Pinky believed that by the time she signs off, which is not anytime soon, she will leave Bangladesh cricket in a much better place. “I don't know when I will leave cricket. But more than me, it is about my team. We are ranked seventh in WODIs right now, but when my time is done, I want the team to see a fourth or fifth ranking. Maybe not this year, but I am very sure that day is not far away. With consistent batting, everything is possible. Next calendar year, maybe we will be able to move up to No. 5, 4 in the rankings.”
As she has done throughout her career and life, Pinky will be there on that day too, where Bangladesh competes among the top five teams in the world and wins matches
