Tigresses aim for semifinal spot in Women's Asia Cup

The Bangladesh national women's cricket team is all set to fly to Sri Lanka to take part in the ACC Women's Asia Cup T20. Before an official photoshoot on Monday, Nigar Sultana, the Bangladesh captain, said they are aiming for a semifinal spot in this edition of the Asia Cup.

Bangladesh, the former champions, have experienced a mixed bag of results over the last couple of years. Last year, they played against India at home but fell short of expectations.

"Our first goal is to qualify for the semifinal," Nigar said on Monday in Mirpur. "We haven't done well in the last two series. We failed to win any matches. So the first match in the Asia Cup is important for us."

In their first match, Bangladesh will take on the hosts, Sri Lanka, against whom Bangladesh has three wins in 12 matches. The stats prove that Sri Lanka is a stronger side than Bangladesh in T20s, meaning that Nigar and her team will have to play their best cricket to beat Sri Lanka in their opening match of the Asia Cup.

In 2018, Bangladesh beat India twice, including once in the final, and won the title for the first time, a feat that the men's team has never achieved so far. But since then, Bangladesh has never been able to reach the semifinals.

"We need good momentum, and a win against Sri Lanka can deliver that," she said.

Hashan Tillakaratne is the coach of the Bangladesh women's team. The former Sri Lankan cricketer believes the team has played poorly in recent times, and he said it's necessary to instill confidence in them so that they can overcome the fear of failure and perform well.

"We have to accept that we haven't been able to play good cricket in recent times," Hashan said.

"But we have the ability to do well."

Bangladesh's confidence can be boosted by the inclusion of two senior campaigners, Rumana Ahmed and Jahanara Alam—both of whom were out of the national team for around a year.

The captain and coach said they are confident their inclusion can help the team find momentum in the Asia Cup.

"They returned to the setup after a long time," Nigar said. "Both did well in the last domestic event. I think they can impact our game in a bigger way."

Bangladesh has no dedicated T20 event for the development of women's cricket. Despite repeated outcries by the cricketers, the BCB has yet to introduce a T20 event for women cricketers. But Habibul Bashar, the former Bangladesh captain and current head of the women's wing, said they are working to introduce more development opportunities for women's cricket.

"The BCB has had discussions about doing it," Bashar said about more opportunities and facilities for women cricketers. "It's now the call of the time. I don't know when we'll get it, but the BCB is discussing it."