Bangladesh are all but out of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup after suffering a demoralising eight-wicket defeat to former champions West Indies in the two teams’ penultimate Group B match in Sharjah on Thursday.

The Tigresses entered the contest brimming with confidence after snapping a 16-match and 10-year losing streak in the 20-over tournament by defeating Scotland. However, their batting performance fell short, as former champions England defended their lowest-ever total in T20 World Cup in their campaign opener.

The momentum for women's cricket in Bangladesh would have had a far bigger boost had they been staging the event as planned.

“We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. We had in our minds that this is our moment. Means a lot,” said an emotional Joty, for whom it was more special as it was her 100th T20I match, during a post-match presentation ceremony. 

Ahead of the Tigresses' T20 World Cup campaign, here we look at some of the interesting facts:

“Bangladesh is a crazy nation when it comes to cricket, with the emotion of the sport acting as an incredible tool for unity. If we perform well here, it will definitely have a positive impact on the Bangladeshi people.”

Over the last two years, young leg spinner Rabeya Khan has emerged as a permanent member in Bangladesh women’s team squads in white-ball cricket. Consistent performances with the ball and the ability to score runs down the order has earned the 19-year-old the stamp of approval from her skipper Nigar Sultana Joty and head coach Hashan Tillakaratne. Before the team’s departure for the T20 World Cup in the UAE, Rabeya spoke with The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan where she opened up about her bittersweet journey in cricket and what she hopes to achieve in the upcoming tournament. Here are the excerpts:

Bangladesh women’s team are all set to leave for the UAE tomorrow to partake in the upcoming ninth edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to run from 3–20 October, after having suffered a winless drought in the last four instalments. Bangladesh head coach Hashan Tillakaratne, in an interview with The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan, discussed his team’s overall preparation and the challenges that await them, among other things, after the Tigresses underwent an official photoshoot at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. The excerpts from the interview are as follows:

It has been 10 years since Bangladesh national women’s cricket team registered their last victory in the ICC T20 World Cup. The victory came back in 2014 when Bangladesh hosted the marquee tournament and the Tigresses defeated Ireland in a ninth-place play-off match in Sylhet.

Bangladesh Women’s A team bowlers stood out in the final T20 of the five-match series against Sri Lankan A to help their side register an eight-wicket win and clinch a 4-1 series win at the Colts in Colombo today.

Opener Shathi Rani scored a fifty before leggie Rabeya Khan claimed a four-fer as Bangladesh women’s ‘A’ team crushed their Sri Lankan counterparts by 104 runs in the second T20 contest of the ongoing five-match series in Colombo today.

Nigar Sultana Joty expressed her satisfaction after winning her first NCL title and hopes the players will carry their confidence into next month’s ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE.

Familiar batting woes returned for Bangladesh in a disheartening 10-wicket loss in the 2024 Women’s Asia Cup semifinal against India in Dambulla yesterday, with skipper Nigar Sultana Joty mentioning that she had no clue about what they wanted to achieve in a shambolic batting effort.

Murshida Khatun struck a career-best 80 off 59 balls while skipper Nigar Sultana Joty made an unbeaten 62 off 37 balls as Bangladesh national women’s team posted a colossal total of 191-2 in their stipulated 20 overs against Malaysia in their last Group B match of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup in Dambulla on Wednesday.

The calm and quiet surroundings of BKSP, the national sports institute in Savar, provided the backdrop for two different teams' preparations heading into two different kinds of objectives yesterday, with the weather making for interesting training conditions.

The Bangladesh captain stated that featuring in a home T20 World Cup was a unique experience for her side, especially the younger players.

“Batting is the area we need to work on. We need to work on our approach and intent in batting,” Joty said in the post-match presentation.

The International Cricket Council announced the fixtures on Sunday. The event will run from October 3 to 20 in the capital Dhaka and the northeastern city of Sylhet, with warm-up matches starting on September 27.

When opener Dilara Akter provided a fine start in the Powerplay, it appeared that the Bangladesh women’s cricket team would finally be able to turn back the tide in their batting department.

Batting was once again the point of focus after Bangladesh women’s cricket team’s 44-run loss in the first of five Twenty20Is against India at the Sylhet International Stadium today.