Bangladesh Cricket Board on Sunday announced the 14-member squad to tour Northern Ireland early next month for playing two T20 internationals and two ODIs.
Bangladesh team travels to Northern Ireland on September 2 and scheduled to meet the Irish side in the T20 internationals on Sept 5 and 6, followed by the ODIs on Sept 8 and 9, all matches at the Bready Cricket Club in Londonderry.
Bangladesh team lost the services of ace all-rounder Salma Khatun, who ruled out due to a shoulder injury, but BCB’s selector for Women’s Cricket Team and Tour Manager Athar Ali Khan was confident that the squad still had a lot to offer:
“We will definitely miss the experience of Salma who is one of the leading players in the world. She did join the camp but could not bowl and we thought it was in the best interest of the team that she was given time to recover as we have a long season ahead with the Asia Cup, World Cup qualifiers” Athar Ali further said.
“However, we still have a lot of variation in bowling, especially in the spin department. There are two leg spinners (Fahima Khatun and Rumana Ahmed) and Nahida (Akter) is a wily left-arm spinner. Newcomer Jannatul Ferdous is a very exciting prospect who bowls off-break, can bat in the middle order and is a fine fielder. She has caught the eye,” he added.
“We are a confident unit. Bangladesh is ranked above Ireland and our goal is to win the matches but the different conditions will be a challenge and we have to work really, really hard.”
Bangladesh Women’s team: Sanjida Islam, Ayasha Rahman, Fargana Haque, Lata Mondal, Rumana Ahmed, Nigar Sultana, Ritu Moni, Fahima Khatun, Jahanara Alam, Nahida Akter, Panna Ghosh, Khadija Tul Kobra, Suraiya Azmin and Jannatul Ferdus.
Two stand-by cricketers are: Sharmin Akter Supta and Shaila Sharmin.
