Tigresses finally back in their habitat
While the national men's cricket team gears up to return to international cricket through an upcoming home series against the West Indies this month after two domestic tournaments, the Bangladesh women's team have been out of action since the ICC Women's T20 World Cup last February.
Their cricketing activities have remained halted despite the cricketers' eagerness to return to the field and Salma Khatun and others had to stay home.
However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) did arrange a national camp for the Tigresses, which will get underway at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium from today. The 29-member squad will undergo fitness and skills training at the month-long camp, which will also include five limited-overs practice matches.
Salma Khatun, Nigar Sultana, Jahanara Alam and others underwent coronavirus testing before reporting to assistant coach Foysal Hossain at the camp yesterday and everyone was keen to return to cricket after a long break.
After the month-long camp, the BCB is planning to start the under-17 camp in February along with the under-19 camp before the South Africa emerging team's expected tour in March.
"Women's cricket took a major blow due to the pandemic. We gave importance to the safety of the players first. However, we are planning to focus on building the pipeline of women's cricket in Bangladesh. We are planning to work countrywide on a women's under-19 side as we were supposed to host the women's ICC under-19 World Cup, which was also postponed due to Covid-19," BCB's women's cricket wing chairman Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel said.
The Tigresses are expected to tour Sri Lanka in June, where Rumana Ahmed and her troops will take part in a tri-nation series between Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
According to Nadel, the tri-nation series will be part of preparation for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, which will begin in Sri Lanka from June 26.
The BCB has also been looking for a head coach for the women's national team since parting ways with Anju Jain after the ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
"Our first job is to appoint a head coach and we are hoping to do so soon. Apart from that, we also have our own local coaching staff who will get a good opportunity to showcase their talents," Nadel said.
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