Maria, Monika, Ritu, Rupna, Shamsunnahar return for Jordan tour

Maria Manda, Monika Chakma, Ritu Porna Chakma, Rupna Chakma, and Shamsunnahar Sr -- five of the 10 players involved in the BOB National Women's League in Bhutan -- have returned to Bangladesh this morning to join Peter Butler's training camp.

Rupna and Maria had left for Bhutan on April 13, following five days of training under Butler, who returned to Bangladesh on April 7.

Monika, Ritu Porna and Shamsunnahar Sr had left on April 6. 

Although they went to Bhutan more than a month ago, these players only had the opportunity to play a single game in the league, which started on May 10 after the schedule was deferred.

The five footballers will join 41 others tomorrow in the ongoing camp for the national women's team's Jordan tour later this month, confirmed a source within the women's team. Three of these players, namely Surma Jannat, Swarna Rani, and Aklima Khatun are carrying injuries, the source said.

The Bangladesh team will leave for Jordan on May 27 and play against the hosts four days later before wrapping up their tour with a match against Indonesia on June 3.

The likes of Sabina Khatun and Masura Parvin, who played a key role in the revolt against Butler, have not been called up.

Meanwhile, five other footballers currently in Bhutan -- Sabina Khatun, Krishna Rani Sarkar, Sanjida Akhter, Matsushima Sumaya, and Masura Parvin -- have not been called up by Butler for the upcoming series, which is seen as a build-up to next month's Asian Cup Qualifiers in Myanmar.

It is understood that the head coach is not keen on considering these five senior players, mostly because of their form and fitness, for the Asian Cup Qualifiers, despite Sabina and Krishna scoring a hatful of goals each during their team's record win in the Bhutan league recently.

The source told The Daily Star that a final squad of 23 members, from among these 46 in the camp, will be announced a day or two prior to the team's departure for Jordan.