The last phase of prep for Bangladesh women’s team will be a nine-day camp in Sylhet next month, featuring day-night intra-squad games. ©Getty The Bangladesh senior women’s team, which is preparing for the upcoming Women’s ODI World Cup scheduled to be played in India and Sri Lanka, lost back-to-back games against Bangladesh’s Under-15 boys in the ongoing Challenge Cup, a tournament organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board as part of the team’s preparation for the global event. The 50-over tournament, in BKSP, featured Bangladesh Women’s Team Red and Bangladesh Women’s Team Green along with Bangladesh U-15 team. The Bangladesh Under-15 boys won both their games, beating Red by 87 runs and Green by 47 runs in a rain-interrupted contest. Nazmul Abedin, the BCB women’s committee chairperson, attempted to defend the team’s performance citing that the Under-15 boys side was ‘a good team’ and they didn’t want the women players to play against a weak team and get a false sense of confidence ahead of the World Cup. “Losing to a Under-15 boys team is surely alarming, and to be honest, other cricketing nations are way ahead compared to our women’s team,” a BCB official told Cricbuzz. But the losses stem from a larger issue that has impacted Bangladesh’s preparations for the World Cup. The panic has set in especially given that the team would not have played an international fixture for five months leading up to the World Cup. Their last an international match was against Pakistan during the World Cup Qualifier April 19, 2025. Since then, they have carried out fitness programs in Cox’s Bazar and later regrouped in Sylhet for a camp featuring only intra-squad matches. On the other hand, top teams like India, Australia and England have been engaged in bilateral contests. Explaining the situation, Nazmul said that attempts were made to organise competitive matches but failed to organise any games due to various challenges. “From the moment we qualified for the World Cup back in April, we have tried corresponding with other cricket boards, but we couldn’t arrange anything,” said Nazmul. “We spoke to Sri Lanka, but they changed their plan at the very last moment. They wanted to play their domestic cricket during that time. Those eight teams will play at the World Cup; out of those eight, four teams were already scheduled to have their matches. The rest – Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and England – are not playing at the moment,” he said. “Since West Indies hadn’t qualified for the tournament, we asked them to play against us, but since they didn’t get to the main stage, they didn’t find any reason to play against us at that time. “We could have played against Thailand; they really wanted us to play against us. The UAE women’s team badly wanted to play. But we wouldn’t have benefited from those games. That is why we didn’t go for it. Rather, what we are doing now with the boys feels more competitive compared to those teams.” Nigar Sultana, Bangladesh women’s team skipper, who is also leading the Red Team in the Challenge Cup, however is of a different opinion. She believes it would have been better if they got some games against international opponents. “It would have been better if we had played an international match, but a lot of effort was made. Because of other teams’ packed schedules, it was not possible. Still, with whatever facilities we are getting, with the highest facilities possible in Bangladesh, we are practicing. And the important thing is how much we can implement this,” said Nigar. Following the Challenge Cup, Bangladesh national women’s team will have a six-day break before they start their last phase of preparation – a nine-day camp in Sylhet early next month. The women’s team will also play three practice matches under floodlights at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium during the camp as all their World Cup fixtures are day-night affairs. It is expected to be their final build-up for the megaevent. ShareTweet
