Bangladesh announce Women's T20 World Cup squad, pick only two pacers

Bangladesh Cricket Board picked only two pacers – Marufa Akhter and Fariha Islam Trisna – for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026, scheduled to begin in England from June 12.

Top-order batter Taj Nehar returned to the shorter-format squad, with no place for Sharmin Sultana.

Eleven players from the previous T20 World Cup edition retained their places.

Chief selector Sazzad Ahmed explained the pace bowling decision: "The pace bowlers pipeline in Bangladesh is very narrow and at important moments they fall into injuries. Though England wickets are expected to be pace friendly, recent behaviour suggests wickets are assisting spinners. Taking conditions into consideration, we have kept our faith on spinners and accept there are not many pacers in our pipeline."

On Taj Nehar replacing Sharmin Sultana, he said: "Taj Nehar is a versatile player who can bat anywhere from No.1 to 6 and we believe she can play an effective role in solving the team's problem of scoring runs, especially in the last 5 overs."

He added that Bangladesh need to change their conservative batting approach: "The defensive batting approach is currently a major concern, while it is not possible to change overnight, selectors are working on solving this problem."

On captain Nigar Sultana, he noted: "Joty has the ability to dominate world-class opponents but she has been dealing with injuries for a long time. Had it not been for this injury she could have gone to a much higher level."

Bangladesh depart for Edinburgh on May 25 for a tri-series involving Scotland and Netherlands, then travel to Loughborough for ICC World Cup warm-up matches.

Bangladesh squad for Women's T20 World Cup 2026: Nigar Sultana Joty (Captain), Nahida Akter (Vice Captain), Sharmin Akter Supta, Sobhana Mostary, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Rabeya Khan, Fahima Khatun, Fariha Islam Trisna, Marufa Akter, Shanjida Akther Maghla, Sultana Khatun, Dilara Akter, Juairiya Ferdous, Taj Nehar