2018 has been the most successful year for Bangladesh women’s cricket thus far as the Tigresses achieved a major honour in the ICC event (Asia Cup 2018), which even the men’s team have not been able to achieve yet.
It has been a transformational year for the women’s cricket team, although they couldn’t meet the expectation in the World T20I later in the year.
Let’s have a recap on how Bangladesh women’s team performed in 2018.
Bangladesh started their season playing against South Africa away from home back in April.
The Tigresses lost all five ODIs and three T20Is against the Proteas women.
The BCB then appointed Indian Anju Jain as head coach in May, while another Indian, Devika Palshikar joined as the assistant coach in mid-April.
The next tournament was the Asia Cup in Malaysia.
The year 2018 marked the 18th anniversary of @BCBtigers getting Test status and although many questions loomed regarding the infrastructure, the year at least saw two first-class tournaments - NCL and BCL - held successfully.https://t.co/dJsTi0bnuv#BCBTIGERS #BCB #TIGERS #BCL
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 29, 2018
Bangladesh started the tournament with a six-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka.
But they bounced back in their next match as they defeated Pakistan by seven wickets.
Bangladesh stunned defending champion India in the next game by seven wickets and later defeated Malaysia by 70 runs in their last group stage match to reach the final.
History awaited Bangladesh as they were up against India, and the Team Tigresses again defeated their neighbour in a thrilling final, clinching a memorable three-wicket win.
Bangladesh needed nine runs in the last over while chasing 113.
Two runs were required off the final delivery and Jahanara Alam managed to score the winning runs to bring glory for Bangladesh.
Prior to the Asia Cup 2018, India were undefeated in the history of the regional tournament, and never lost to Bangladesh previously.
After winning the @ACCMedia1 Cup 2018, @BCBtigers women’s cricket team were confident of doing well in the @T20WorldCup, but they exhibited a miserable show in the flagship @ICC event losing all the matcheshttps://t.co/QmxateWdbs#BCBTIGERS #BCB #TIGERS #CRICKET #BANGLADESH #ICC
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 28, 2018
But in the Asia Cup this year, Bangladesh defeated the mighty Indians, that too twice.
Safe to say the Asia Cup win is a historic and momentous occasion for Bangladesh.
After winning the Asia Cup, Bangladesh won the away T20I series against Ireland 2-1, which proved to be a confidence booster ahead of the World T20I Qualifiers.
Bangladesh chased down the target twice in that series against the Irish and sealed the away series in difficult and harsh conditions.
The World T20 Qualifiers was held in July in the Netherlands.
The Tigresses defeated Papua New Guinea, the Netherlands, the UAE and Scotland to reach the final, and qualified for the tournament finals.
In the final, Bangladesh defeated Ireland by 25 runs and became the unbeaten champion of the World T20I Qualifiers.
It was kind of a transitional period for the Tigers as their head coach @CHathurusinghe resigned abruptly in the end of 2017, and @BCBtigers eventually handed the role to English coach Steve Rhodes ahead of the 2019 @cricketworldcuphttps://t.co/HteCjGEEO6#BCBTIGERS #BCB #TIGERS
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 28, 2018
Seamer Panna Ghosh picked up five wickets in the final, conceding 15 runs, and was adjudged player of the match award.
The preparation for World T20I was not great as Bangladesh played four T20Is against Pakistan at home and lost the series 3-0 in October.
However, they managed to win the only ODI against their sub-continent rival.
The World T20I started in November and Bangladesh were pitted in Group A.
The World T20I campaign was frustrating for Bangladesh as they could not manage to win a single match in the tournament.
They lost to the West Indies, England, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Despite losing all the matches in the World T20I, 2018 will be considered a historic year for women’s cricket as they won the Asia Cup, and the away series in Ireland.
The salary structure in first-class and club cricket for the women players being upgraded was also a positive sign.
