SPORTS REPORTER

Bangladesh women’s team are set to depart for Rajshahi on Monday for a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka which will kickstart their campaign in the ICC Women’s Championship 2025-29 cycle, the qualifying competition for the next Women’s ODI World Cup.

However, focusing solely on ODIs is not an option for Nigar Sultana and Co as right after the ODI series, which will begin on April 20, they will play three T20Is against the same opponents in Sylhet from April 28, which would kickstart their preparations for this year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in June-July.

The Tigresses had narrowly missed out direct qualification to the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup in India after finishing seventh. They equalled sixth-placed New Zealand on points, who received the last direct spot, but finished placed one slot below as the White Ferns had one more win than them.

Bangladesh eventually qualified for the World Cup through the qualifiers, but would be hoping to steer clear from that this time. Even though the ODI World Cup still seems far away, starting the campaign on the right foot at home will be crucial.

“There are points up for grabs. Last year we had to play the qualifiers... We want to play good cricket so we don’t have to play the qualifiers again,” batting coach Nasiruddin Faruque Shojib told The Daily Star yesterday.

The Tigresses underwent a camp at BKSP till April 8 as part of their preparations for the upcoming ODIs and T20Is. Team management sources confirmed that alongside ODI-centric work, T20 specific work too had also been done in the camp.

“Our priority right now is the ODI series against Sri Lanka. So, this camp was ODI-based. Additionally, we worked on small details, focusing on match-ups between ODIs and T20s to bridge that gap,” Nasiruddin told The Daily Star yesterday.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the 15-member squad for the ODI series yesterday night, where Juairiya Ferdous, who played in the T20 World Cup qualifiers this year, received a maiden ODI call up. Top-order batter Sarmin Sultana, a 32-year-old who last played ODIs for the Tigresses in 2019, was also included.

“Juairiya is a next generation player and has good power-hitting abilities. Sharmin is making a return after a six-year gap. What has improved recently is her strike-rotation and ability to play shots. We are focusing on the same areas as we are slow in the Powerplay and want to improve on that aspect in ODIs to get 250-plus scores,” national team chief selector Sajjad Ahmed Shipon told The Daily Star yesterday.

With the T20I World Cup preparations going into full swing, women’s team’s busy schedule is set to continue after the Sri Lanka T20Is with a camp in Dhaka before a tri-nation series in Scotland.