The 10th edition of the Women's T20 Asia Cup begins in the United Arab Emirates from Friday. The curtain will fall on the eight-team tournament with the final on September 13. The Bangladesh women's cricket team will leave the country tomorrow to play in the Asia Cup. Prior to that, the team's official photoshoot took place yesterday in Mirpur. Afterwards, captain Nigar Sultana Joty shared the team's objectives for the tournament in a press conference. The Tigresses captain stated that Bangladesh's main goal in this tournament is to cross the semifinal hurdle and play in the final.
Joty is also satisfied with the team's preparation ahead of the tournament. Mentioning the practice matches played under floodlights at home to adapt to the conditions of the United Arab Emirates, Joty said, 'The preparation has been very good. Since all our games there are under lights, we played two practice matches here in this environment. In terms of preparation, I think it was very good.'
Bangladesh's target in this Asia Cup is the final. Joty and her teammates want to overcome the frustration of repeatedly exiting from the semifinals in recent times. The captain said, 'Our main target is to play the final. Because we play the semifinals, get eliminated, and come back; this exact thing keeps happening. We want to break this barrier this time.'
Joty believes that if they can overcome the semifinal hurdle, an opportunity to play in the final will be created, and from there, they can also dream of the championship. She said, 'We are somehow not being able to cross the semifinal. If we can cross the semifinal, our desire is to play the final. If we play the final, then the matter of winning the title comes in. We are planning step by step.'
The Asian Games will follow right after the Asia Cup. Bangladesh also dreams of winning a medal there. Having won bronze in the last edition, Bangladesh is expecting something bigger this time. Speaking about the Asian Games, Joty said, 'If you talk about the Asian Games, going for a medal is our primary target. Because last time we got bronze, and silver in 2010. On behalf of our team, I will say people have a lot of expectations. Bringing home a medal is one thing, and if that is gold, it will be even bigger.'
Bangladesh will play in Group B in this Asia Cup. The Tigresses' opponents in the group are Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and hosts United Arab Emirates. Joty's team will begin the tournament with a match against hosts UAE on August 29. Bangladesh also played in the semifinals of the previous edition. However, failing to defeat India, they missed out on reaching the final. Bangladesh's biggest success in the Asia Cup came in 2018. In that edition, Bangladesh won their only Asia Cup title by defeating India in the final.
