Marufa’s magic: From Nilphamari’s rail tracks to World Cup fame

The railway line through Dhelapir, a small village in Nilphamari, hums softly through fields of paddy. Children wave as trains rush past, their laughter swallowed by the roar of metal on tracks. Among them once ran a girl with a bat made from scrap wood, her dreams louder than any train that thundered by. That girl is now Marufa Akhter—just 20 years old—and she’s rewriting the story of women’s cricket in Bangladesh. On Thursday in Colombo, under the blazing sun of the 2025 Women’s One-Day World Cup, Marufa didn’t just bowl overs—she made a statement. In her very first over, she ripped through Pakistan’s top order, claiming two wickets and setting the tone for a dominant 7-wicket Bangladeshi victory. Her...