The Bangladesh women’s side has shown impressive signs of growth as a team, especially in the last 5 years. In this article, we will be talking about Bangladesh women’s side vision behind providing opportunities to youngsters in their upcoming series against India at home. The series will commence on 9th July 2023. The series will kickstart with a three-match T20I series followed by a three-match ODI series. All the matches of the series will be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, in Mirpur, Bangladesh.
The Under-19 women’s side had a memorable outing in the Inaugural Edition of the Women’s Under-19 World Cup, causing a huge upset in the opening game of the tournament, convincingly beating Australia by 7 wickets chasing a target of 133. The young brigade from Bangladesh made a strong impression with their performances in the tournament. They finished in third place with three wins out of the four games, showing glimpses of their promising future.
The home series against India is their next assignment, and a few surprising exclusions, including those of one of their most experienced bowlers like Jahanara Alam and Rumana Ahmed from the preliminary squad, show signs of change. The inclusion of a few of their under-19 stars, the likes of Shorna Akter, Rabeya Khan, and Marufa Akter, etc. indicates their long-term vision of building a young side for the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.
Experienced campaigner Jahanara Alam and Rumana Ahmed has been dropped from the Bangladesh squad for India series.#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/KKbmrL2UGQ
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) June 28, 2023
The 30-year-old pacer Jahanara Alam made her international debut on 26th November 2011 in an ODI against Ireland. She has been a vital cog in Bangladesh’s bowling unit over the years, picking up 48 wickets in 52 matches at an average of 30.39 and an impressive economy of 4.26. However, in the last 1 year, she has seen a slight dip in form picking 10 wickets in 12 innings with an average of 35.30 in the ODI format.
However, in the T20I format which is her stronger suit, she has picked up 57 wickets at an average of 23.31 and an impressive economy rate of under 6 runs an over. She has played fewer T20Is (7) in the last 12 months and has managed to pick up 2 wickets in 7 innings. Recently, she was a part of the ODI and the T20I squad for the tour of Sri Lanka. She had a quiet series picking up two wickets in the 3 matches she played on the tour.
Her recent domestic performances aren’t too encouraging. Before the Sri Lanka tour, she was involved in a FairBreak Invitational T20 Tournament in Hong Kong. She was a part of the Falcons Women’s side where she picked up two wickets at an economy of 8.47. Her below-par performances in recent times led to her exclusion from the provisional squad for the upcoming home series against India.
Many youngsters have been provided an opportunity with a vision to build a young squad for the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. However, the door is still wide open for her to make a comeback into the side.
“I think we need to understand that we have to look at the bigger picture and we have picked certain players keeping the future in mind,” a member of the team management told Cricbuzz.
The ODI series will be a part of the ICC Women’s Championship that will determine the qualification for the 2025 ODI World Cup. It is going to be an important series for the home side to ensure direct qualification for the Women’s ODI World Cup in 2025. The veteran off-spinner Salma Khatun makes her way back into the squad, after missing out on a place in the series against Sri Lanka.
“Most of our defeats have come due to fielding, so we are emphasizing more on our fitness. If you see our progress from last year, we could have won some series but that didn’t happen. It’s high time we pick some young players. We have the 2024 World Cup at home” a member of the team management told The Daily Star on the importance of fitness.