Jahanara Alam (; born 1 April 1993) is a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who plays for the

Bangladesh women's national cricket team The Bangladesh women's national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Bangladesh in international women's cricket matches. They made their international debut when they played, and won, two matches against Thailand in July 200 ...

. She is a right-arm

medium pace Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

bowler and right-handed batter. She was a member of the team that won a silver medal in cricket against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

at the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, China.

Early life

Alam was born and raised in

Khulna Khulna (, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of the Khulna District and the Khulna Division. It is the divisional centre of 10 districts of the division. Khulna is also the seco ...

, where she attended Pioneer Girls High School. By 2007, the year she was in sixth standard, she was playing both

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

for her school. She lived some distance away, and travelled there by

rickshaw Rickshaw originally denoted a pulled rickshaw, which is a two- or three-wheeled cart generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also known as pedicabs or tr ...

, a trip that would take about 40 to 50 minutes. Alam's interest in sports then attracted the attention of

Sheikh Salahuddin Shaikh Salahuddin may refer to: *Sheikh Salahuddin (Karachi politician) (born 1956) *Shaikh Salahuddin (Hyderabad politician) (fl. 2008) *Sheikh Salahuddin (cricketer) (1969–2013) {{hndis, Salahuddin, Shaikh ...

, a player and coach of the Khulna Division men's cricket team, who lived opposite the school. Unlike the other school girls, who wore

shalwar kameez Shalwar kameez (also salwar kameez and less commonly shalwar qameez) is a traditional combination dress worn by men and women in South Asia, and Central Asia. '' Shalwars'' are trousers which are atypically wide at the waist and narrow to a ...

, Alam would make her rickshaw trip to school in sports attire. Salauddin spotted her on some of her rickshaw journeys, and eventually asked her whether she wanted to play cricket. She immediately agreed. At that time, Alam was not a follower of cricket, and did not understand the rules. However, she was told that

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

would soon have its own women's team, and that was an incentive for her to try out. Alam's parents were supportive. "My father only told me to return home before the evening

Azaan The (, ) is the Islamic call to prayer, usually recited by a muezzin, traditionally from the minaret of a mosque, shortly before each of the five obligatory daily prayers. The adhan is also the first phrase said in the ear of a newborn baby, ...

and not do anything that would bring shame to the family," she told ''CricTracker'' in 2020. Even more supportive was her grandmother, who would take her to and from matches. In her initial cricket trials, Alam "failed miserably". However, her coach had spotted that she had ample natural ability, and she had always been fit. After practising for a month, she became a fast bowler. Shortly afterwards, she was the leading wicket-taker in a seven-team tournament, with 13 wickets, and was called up to the national camp. Her prompt success at cricket caused some problems for her and her family: Alam did not, and does not, have a role model. In the first two years she was playing cricket, she was not able to follow the game very much. Then, one of her coaches showed her some YouTube videos of

Brett Lee Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) is an Australian former international cricketer, who played all three formats of the game. During his international career, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in the world. With his time representin ...

. The coach suggested that she generate more pace and swing by following Lee's bowling action. From then onwards, she would identify and follow two or three players "from every nation", but her one and only cricketing idol is

Mashrafe Mortaza Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (born 5 October 1983), popularly known as the ''Narail Express'', is a Bangladeshi politician and cricketer who captained in all three formats of the game for the Bangladesh national cricket team and a former Jatiya Sangsad ...

Career

The first time Alam took the field for the national team was during a Hong Kong tour of Bangladesh in March 2008. "When I was selected for Bangladesh, I had to ask my father whether I should play or do my exams?" she has said. His response was "... you may only have one chance to play for your country but you will have 3 chances to pass your exam". Alam therefore played in all four of the matches in the unofficial 50-over format series. During the last one, at

Mirpur Stadium The Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS; ), also called Mirpur Stadium, is an International cricket ground at Mirpur, Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Located 10 kilometres from Mirpur city centre, the ground holds approximately 25,0 ...

, she took a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

with the only three balls she bowled, in the 47th over, a feat that caused quite a stir: Alam made her ODI debut against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on 26 November 2011. She made her T20I debut against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 28 August 2012. In June 2018, she was part of Bangladesh's squad that won their first ever

Women's Asia Cup The Women's Asia Cup is the biennial cricket tournament organised by the Asian Cricket Council. The tournament is played by senior national cricket teams of Asian members, determining the continental champion of Asia. The first Asia Cup was ...

title, winning the

2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup The 2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup was the seventh edition of the ACC Women's Asia Cup, organized by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). It took place between 3 and 10 June 2018 in Malaysia, and was the third edition played as a 20-over tournamen ...

tournament. Later the same month, she was named in Bangladesh's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament held from 7 to 14 July 2018 in the Netherlands. It was the third edition of the Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier and was the qualification tournament ...

tournament. On 28 June 2018, she became the first bowler for Bangladesh to take a

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

in WT20Is, in a match against Ireland. In October 2018, she was named in Bangladesh's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West Indies wer ...

tournament in the West Indies. She was the joint-leading wicket-taker for Bangladesh in the tournament, with six dismissals in four matches. Following the conclusion of the tournament, she was named as the standout player in the team by the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC). In August 2019, she was named in Bangladesh's squad for the

2019 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2019 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in August and September 2019 in Scotland. It was the fourth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier and was the qualification tour ...

tournament in Scotland. In November 2019, she was named in Bangladesh's squad for the cricket tournament at the

2019 South Asian Games The 2019 South Asian Games, officially the XIII South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event which was originally slated to be held from 9 to 18 March 2019 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. However, the dates were postponed and the event was ...

. The Bangladesh team beat Sri Lanka by two runs in the final to win the gold medal. In January 2020, she was named in Bangladesh's squad for the

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2020 Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The 2020 Women's T20 World Cup final, final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Internati ...

in Australia. In November 2021, she was named in Bangladesh's team for the

2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in Zimbabwe in November and December 2021. The tournament was the final part of the qualification process for the 2022 Women's Cricket Worl ...

tournament in Zimbabwe. In January 2022, she was named as one of three reserve players in Bangladesh's team for the

2022 Commonwealth Games Cricket Qualifier The 2022 Commonwealth Games Qualifier was a cricket tournament played in Malaysia in January 2022. Five national teams competed for one place in the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham, England, from July to August ...

tournament in Malaysia. Later the same month, she was named in Bangladesh's team for the

2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...

in New Zealand. She was named in the Bangladesh squad for the

2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2024 Women's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup. Originally scheduled to be hosted in Bangladesh from 3 to 20 October 2024, it was later relocated to the United Arab Emirates for the same dates due to political ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alam, Jahanara 1993 births Living people Cricketers from Khulna Bangladeshi women cricketers Bangladesh women One Day International cricketers Bangladesh women Twenty20 International cricketers Khulna Division women cricketers Sylhet Division women cricketers IPL Velocity cricketers Northern Zone women cricketers Cricketers at the 2010 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in cricket Cricketers at the 2014 Asian Games Bangladeshi women cricket captains Asian Games silver medalists for Bangladesh Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games South Asian Games gold medalists for Bangladesh South Asian Games medalists in cricket