BD’s Ferdus ignored for Ireland tour

DHAKA: Bangladesh have announced a 14-member women’s squad for their upcoming tour of Ireland and World T20 Qualifiers on Wednesday (June 20).

Jannatul Ferdus, who was part of the historic Asia Cup campaign, misses out and is kept on standby along with three other players - batting allrounder Lata Mondal, batter Murshida Khatun and the 19-year-old medium-pacer Suraiya Azmin. Ferdus did not get a game in the successful Asia Cup tournament and has played only one Twenty20 International. Salma Khutan will lead the Bangladesh side and Rumana Ahmed is the vice captain. The side will first travel to Ireland to play three T20Is against the hosts and then fly out to Netherlands to participate in the World T20 Qualifiers.

Bangladesh have been grouped alongside Papua New Guinea, Netherlands and UAE in Pool A for the Qualifiers. They play a warm-up against Scotland on July 5 before taking on Papua New Guinea on July 7. The top teams will join Australia, England, New Zealand, India, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka in the main tournament, scheduled to be played in the Caribbean from November 9-25.

Bangladesh squad: Salma Khatun (c), Rumana Ahmed, Nigar Sultana, Fargana Hoque, Khadija Tul Kubra, Fahima Khatun, Ayasha Rahman, Shamima Sultana (wk), Nahida Akter, Panna Ghosh, Lily Rani Biswas, Sanjida Islam, Sharmin Sultana, Jahanara Alam; Stand-bys: Jannatul Ferdus, Lata Mondal, Murshida Khatun, Suraiya Azmin.