Bangladesh women’s cricket team is confident of making a direct entry to the ICC World Cup despite knowing that the equation is quite tough for them. To ensure a direct entry to the World Cup, to be held in India next year, the Tigresses would have to win all of their six remaining matches in the ICC Women's ODI Super League. These include three home matches against Ireland and three away matches against the West Indies.
“We have six matches at hands before the World Cup – three against Ireland and three against West Indies. We know the equation is tough but playing World Cup is everyone’s dream. So we’ll try our best to do well,” Habibul Bashar, the head of BCB’s Women’s Wing, said in a press conference on Wednesday (Nov 20) where the title sponsor for the Bangladesh-Ireland series is announced. The series will be sponsored by Senora, powered by Ruchi, local media reported.
The Irish women’s team will arrive in Dhaka on Nov 22 for three ODIs and as many T20Is as part of the ICC FTP programme. The three ODIs will be played in Mirpur on Nov 27, Nov 30 and Dec 2, while the T20Is will take place in Sylhet on Dec 5, 7 and 9.
“We will have some advantage because we’ll start from home. At this moment, we are not thinking about all six matches. The focus will be on Ireland series for the time being. We need to win all of these three matches first. This is our first target.”
Bashar said the players are training intensively for the series and their improvement made him happier.
“We have already started our preparation for the series. The girls have been playing consistently. In this period we have made significant progress. Girls are quite upbeat now,” he said.
Bashar, also the former Bangladesh captain, admitted they will feel some pressure with the chances to qualify for the World Cup looming but he said, the players are confident to overcome the pressure.
“There will be pressure to perform, which is natural because we know what we need to do for a direct qualification,” he said.
“Playing World Cup is our dream, so we’ll try our best. Since we’re playing at home, we’re hopeful for positive results.”
