‘Not here to just be participants’

Bangladesh will be looking for a far better outing in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 than in recent times when they begin their latest campaign against Group A rivals Sri Lanka at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town today.

The Tigresses have not managed a single win in three editions of the T20 World Cup across 12 games since two wins against Sri Lanka and Ireland in their maiden T20 World Cup campaign on home soil in 2014.

But the inclusion of a few U-19 World Cup stars, who featured in South Africa just recently, gave captain Nigar Sultana Joty room for optimism ahead of the showpiece event this time around.

"We came here after going through the qualifiers so we know the value of this stage. This is a huge opportunity for them [U-19 stars] to show their capabilities. And obviously, because of how good we are, we have the potential to compete against good sides. We're just trying to give ourselves the chance to showcase that we actually are not here to be participants, we're here for the competition," she said during a press conference following their training session at the Western Province Cricket Club yesterday.

"We have played four World Cups. And, except in 2014, we couldn't manage a single win in this tournament. So we are looking for our first win here. And we also want to get the momentum and carry it through the tournament. Our target is to play the semifinal," she added.

Three players from the U-19 squad -- Shorna Akter, Disha Biswas and Marufa Akter -- were introduced to the 15-member World Cup squad. Another U-19 star, Dilara Akter, was initially called up but has been replaced by top-order batter Fargana Haque Pinky.

"Obviously I am super excited to see the team. They gained experience during the U-19 World Cup and played good cricket. They are also excited to join the national side and I'm looking forward to seeing them perform," the skipper said.

Joty belives the team atmosphere and bonds they share are the team's biggest strength. "I think obviously team bonding [is the biggest strength]. As you can see, we can win a game when we contribute as a team. We don't have a power-hitter or a good finisher like other teams. Actually, we don't have the good finisher, but we have a good team. If we can contribute as a team and do well in the three departments, then we can win a match. We are looking to playing good cricket," she opined.

Joty also informed that they were not looking to experiment at the top, especially in the opening slots, despite using two different pairs in the warm-up fixtures against Pakistan and India.

Opponents Sri Lanka already made headlines by defeating South Africa in a tight Group A match, but Joty insisted on taking things 'game by game' and focusing on Sri Lanka first, suggesting that Hasan Tilakratne's presence as head coach gave her side an added advantage going into the fixture.