DHAKA, Sept 16, 2021 (BSS)—The Bangladesh Women’s Cricket team is all set to return to International cricket after Covid-19-forced break with a tour in Zimbabwe.
They will play a three-match ODI series against the African nation, who will also host a 10-team women's ODI World Cup Qualifier.
The two teams in fact will enter the bio-bubble for the World Cup Qualifier after this series, which will mark Bangladesh's first international assignment since the T20 World Cup held in Australia in February-March last year.
Bangladesh, who last played an ODI series in November 2019, are expected to leave the country for the Zimbabwe series and subsequent World Cup Qualifier on November 4 or 5.
The qualifying event, delayed twice due to the pandemic, will run from November 21 to December 5.
After being eliminated from the league stage of the 2020 T20 World Cup, Bangladesh’s only top-flight competitive cricket the players took part in was in April this year, when the South Africa Emerging side had toured Sylhet for a five-game one-day series.
The fifth match, however, was cancelled "to accommodate the visiting side's return home before the suspension of international flight operations" following a Covid-19-induced lockdown in Bangladesh," a BCB release said at the time.
Bangladesh’s coaching staff however will comprise only local personnel, said BCB Women’s Wing Chairman Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel.
“We are yet to find a suitable candidate for the head coach role,” Nadel said here today.
The head coach post has remained vacant since the exit of former India captain Anju Jain in June 2020 following the end of her contract two months earlier.
“After discussing with Zimbabwe Cricket, we reached a consensus that we’ll play a three-match ODI series here before the World Cup Qualifier. Since it is a 50-over World Cup Qualifier, we have decided to play just ODI matches there,” Nadel added.
Even though the female cricketers were out of cricket for 18 months, the BCB organized a skill and fitness camp at BKSP, Savar with 60 cricketers to keep them fit. The camp also included 22 central contracted players. The camp, which started on August 14, is divided into four teams in two stages and plays a 50-over tournament.
