Tigresses’ Commonwealth qualifiers begin today

Bangladesh National Women’s Cricket Team will begin their ICC Commonwealth Games 2022 qualifiers journey today with their match against Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur for the lone remaining slot at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The round-robin T20 tournament to decide who joins the seven teams already qualified for Birmingham - Australia, Barbados, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa. It will only be the second time cricket will feature in it after a men’s competition was part of the Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

Bangladesh reached Malaysia on January 9 and spent seven days in quarantine afterwards. Before leaving Bangladesh, controversies were surrounding the team after all-rounder Jahanara Alam was left out of the squad.

Before their opening match of the tournament, Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana Joty said they were confident despite the disruptions in their training due to Covid-19.

“We are very confident. It was not easy for us to return to competitive cricket after the disruptions of training and matches because of Covid-19. However, we are well prepared now, having played in different conditions during the past few months,” she said.

She added, “I think our middle-order batting has been excellent in recent times. As this is a T20 tournament, I am expecting the opening batters to get us off to quick starts. We have experienced campaigners compliment the youthful exuberance in our team. It’s going to be a combined effort from all of us if we do well here.”

Ahead of the match, Malaysia skipper Winifred Anne Duraisingam said they were comfortable playing at home.

“In terms of advantage, we are certainly comfortable as we know the ground conditions and we hope this will give us an edge as we do our best. Without a doubt, the strength of our team is in fielding and bowling. We are currently hard at work with our batting and we can see the improvements,” she said.

After facing the hosts today, Bangladesh will take on Kenya tomorrow. On January 23, they will face Scotland before their final match against Sri Lanka on January 24.

The team topping the points table after five matches each will qualify for the Commonwealth Games 2022.