Bangladesh women’s cricket team captain Salma Khatun said yesterday that the Ireland trip greatly aided towards the improvement of their performance.
The women’s team returned home on Friday after the Ireland tour where they won only one T20 game against the hosts but Salma was little bothered with the result of the tri-nation series, instead stressing the importance of playing matches in different conditions.
“Our performance was not at all bad. The weather was totally different from ours that is why we needed time to adjust to the conditions. I think we played impressive cricket on the tour,” said Salma.
Bangladesh lost both one-day practice matches against Pakistan and Ireland before losing the ODI against Pakistan while the match against Ireland was abandoned. They lost the first T20I against Pakistan but won the second match against the hosts. There was however a misunderstanding about the number of international matches as the team learned late that the first two games were not international but only warm-up matches.
“The newcomers were initially a little nervous but later on they adjusted to the conditions. Actually, it was a great experience for us to make our first trip to Europe and it will help women’s cricket in the country,” hoped Salma.
She was also confident about the upcoming challenge against the South Africa women’s team.
“We will play much better cricket against South Africa in our own conditions because everybody is
confident after the Ireland trip,” said a confident Salma.
The South Africa women’s cricket team will arrive on September 4 to play three one-day internationals and as many T20 internationals against their Bangladesh counterparts at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur as part of their preparation for the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 to be held in Sri Lanka.
ITINERARY
September 6: 1st ODI at Mirpur.
September 7: 2nd ODI at Mirpur.
September 9: 3rd ODI at Mirpur.
September 11: 1st T20I at Mirpur.
September 12: 2nd T20I at Mirpur.
September 14: 3rd T20I at Mirpur.
-With The Daily Star input
