Nigar Sultana Joty, captain of the Bangladesh women鈥檚 cricket team was confident to secure a place in the forthcoming ICC Women鈥檚 ODI World Cup as the team departs for Pakistan on Thursday for the qualifiers.
Two teams from the six competing teams in the qualifiers, which begin on April 9, will advance to the World Cup, scheduled to be held in India later this year.
Bangladesh missed the opportunity for direct qualification to the World Cup after losing an ODI series against the West Indies in January. Consequently, they now have to compete in the qualifiers.
Joty-led side also had to overcome the qualifying stage before their first ODI World Cup in New Zealand in 2022. Joty remained hopeful about qualifying for a second consecutive time.
鈥楲ast time, we also had to qualify to play in the ODI World Cup. So, this time, it鈥檚 the same for us,鈥� Joty said in a press conference in Mirpur on Wednesday.
鈥楾here might have been opportunities that we couldn鈥檛 fully utilise. But still, I鈥檇 say that if we can perform better in the qualifier round, it will be good for the team, and everyone expects us to qualify for the ODI World Cup.鈥櫬�
Bangladesh will face strong opponents like the West Indies and Pakistan for a spot but Joty said they are well prepared. 鈥業 think both teams are beatable because we have won against both teams before.鈥�
Bangladesh team held a 10-day training camp before the prestigious tournament amid the Eid festivals.
鈥榃e didn鈥檛 go to our families to celebrate Eid and had to practice even the day before Eid because we all know how important the tournament is for the team,鈥� said Joty.
鈥榃hen a team goes to play an ICC event, everyone takes special notice. ICC also provides different opportunities when a team compete in World Cup. We all realise that this is a big deal for our careers. The players are benefitted in terms of respect and in financial terms.鈥�
鈥楩or women鈥檚 cricket, it鈥檚 important to qualify for the World Cup and we did everything that was in our power even though it was tough to do during Ramadan. We even practised under lights because two of our matches will be under lights and every point is important.鈥�
Bangladesh will begin their tournament on April 10 against Thailand before playing two warm-up games on April 5 and April 7 against Scotland and Ireland, respectively.
The team will next play against Ireland on April 13, Scotland on April 15, West Indies on April 17, and the hosts Pakistan on April 19.聽
The top two teams from the round-robin league standings will advance to the final.
