Published on 12:00 AM, February 18, 2020

We are ready for the World Cup: Salma

(L-R) The captains of the ten competing teams in the Twenty20 Women’s World Cup--Sornnarin Tippoch (Thailand), Harmanpreet Kaur (India), Sophie Devine (New Zealand), Stafanie Taylor (West Indies), Meg Lanning (Australia), Chamari Atapattu (Sri Lanka), Dane van Niekerk (South Africa), Heather Knight (England), Salma Khatun (Bangladesh) and Bismah Maroof (Pakistan) -- pose with the trophy during an official photo session at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney yesterday. Photo: Afp
ICC

Bangladesh broke the mould when beating India in the 2018 Asia Cup but for captain Salma Khatun, the focus is all on the present day.

Salma's side powered past their rivals for the first time in the group stage, going on to show that success was no fluke with victory in the final.

Two years on and the two sides will meet again in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020, with the Tigers keen to show how far they have come since that breakthrough moment.

They will take heart from the feats of compatriots as well, with Bangladesh winning the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa earlier this year.

But skipper Salma knows their focus can't just be on India given the challenges posed by New Zealand and hosts in Australia in Group A – two sides they have yet to play in T20I cricket.

"Our U19 World Cup was a great moment. We are ready for the World Cup," said Salma, speaking at the captains' media day at Taronga Zoo, Sydney.

"The Asia Cup was a great experience, but the focus is now on the World Cup. We want to be focusing on New Zealand and Australia instead.

"We are proud of what has happened before."

India will be Bangladesh's first opponents in Australia, in Perth on 24 February, prior to playing Meg Lanning's team in Canberra.

They then head to Melbourne for two games, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, to determine whether they reach the Women's T20 World Cup semi-finals for the first time.

Their team may be lacking in experience playing Down Under, but not so Rumana Ahmed, who joined Brisbane Heat as an ICC Rookie for the Women's Big Bash League in 2017.

"Coming here was a big opportunity for me, it was the first time I had been able to come to Australia," said Rumana, who played a starring role in the Asia Cup success over India.

"I learned a lot from here, especially how big teams practice.

"Every session I learned something, how they work in the gym and on their fitness, and it was a very good opportunity for me.

"We were very proud of the U19 team, we were very happy and we have gained some confidence from them.

"We are very confident, it is the first time we are here so Australia haven't seen us and we haven't seen them."

HIGHLIGHTS

Bangladesh twice beat India in the 2018 Asia Cup

The two countries will meet again in the Tigers' fourth Women's T20 World Cup

Salma's side also face Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka as they bid for the semifinals

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