15-year-old pacer Habiba Islam named in Bangladesh's squad for T20Is versus India

Bangladesh have named 15-year-old seamer Habiba Islam in their 15-member squad for their five-match T20I series at home against India. All the matches will be played in Sylhet, starting with the first T20I on Sunday, April 28. The remaining fixtures will be played on April 30, May 2, 6, and 9.

Bangladesh have recalled Rubya Haider, who was sidelined for several months due to an injury. She was brought into the side in place of Farzana Akter as the team looks towards the T20 World Cup at home later this year. Rubya is a wicketkeeper-batter just like Farzana whom she is replacing. Notably, she played the three T20I series against Sri Lanka last year. Meanwhile, the uncapped Habiba has replaced Sumaiya Akter, who is a off-spin-bowling all-rounder.

"We haven't changed the squad that much. Since we are playing on sporting wickets in Sylhet, we have taken an extra pace bowler. We also have Rubya Haider, our opening batter and wicketkeeper, returning from injury. This is a good news," Bangladesh women's chief selector Sajjad Ahmed was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"Rubya has returned after a long injury layoff. She got injured in Hong Kong. She is an automatic choice for us now. We had two fast bowlers in the T20I series against Australia. We had Marufa [Akter] and Fariha [Trisna]. Habiba will be our backup pace bowler," Ahmed added.

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Bangladesh recently had a disappointing campaign against Australia at home. They lost both the ODI series as well as the T20I series by a 3-0 margin. Nigar Sultana and Co. failed to breach the 100-run mark in all the three ODIs. They were comparatively more competitive in the T20Is but the Women in Yellow had just too much quality in them.

"This is a very important series for us. Our batters are struggling to get runs at home. If they can do better and our bowlers are usually good, we can come back as a unit. Australia was an extraordinary team. We couldn't cope up with them. We have to forget about those results, and hope to compete against India," Ahmed said.

"I think our World Cup preparations start from this series against India. Our team formation, planning and strategy is geared for the World Cup. We are not playing any other formats from now. We can't still say that this is our final squad for the World Cup. We have the Asia Cup coming up. We are also planning to play another home series before the World Cup. We have matches coming up, which could lead to some changes," he ended.

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Bangladesh squad for T20Is versus India: Nigar Sultana (C), Nahida Akter, Murshida Khatun, Sobhana Mostary, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Rabeya Khan, Sultana Khatun, Fahima Khatun, Marufa Akter, Fariha Islam, Shorifa Khatun, Dilara Akter, Rubya Haider, Habiba Islam