DHAKA, Jan 16, 2022 (BSS)-As Women's cricket is included for the first

time in Commonwealth Games, Bangladesh is upbeat to qualify for it by
overcoming the qualifier hurdles.

   The ICC Commonwealth Games Qualifier 2022 commences at the Kinrara Oval in
Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday as Bangladesh, Kenya, Malaysia, Scotland and Sri
Lanka vie for the lone remaining slot at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in
Birmingham.

   The round-robin T20 tournament to decide who joins the seven teams already
qualified for Birmingham - Australia, Barbados, England, India, New Zealand,
Pakistan and South Africa - commences with a match between Bangladesh and
Malaysia and will see Bangladesh and Sri Lanka face off on the last day.

   England and six other highest-ranked ICC Members in the MRF Tyres ICC
Women's T20I Team Rankings as of 1 April 2021 qualified directly for the
Commonwealth Games, with the slot for the West Indies going to Barbados since
athletes from the Caribbean will be representing their countries and not the
West Indies (as they are affiliated with the ICC). Barbados were nominated by
Cricket West Indies (CWI) on the basis of their win in the 2019 CWI T20 Blaze
Tournament.

   An ICC statement said, women's cricket will be part of the Commonwealth
Games for the first time ever in what is seen as a huge opportunity to take
the game to new fans. It will only be the second time that cricket will
feature in it after a men's competition was part of the Games in Kuala Lumpur
in 1998.

   Bangladesh captain Niger Sultana has the chance of leading her team into
the Birmingham Games to cap a fine year that has already seen them qualify
for the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand in March-April.

   Nigar Sultana said: "We are very confident. It was not easy for us to
return to competitive cricket after the disruptions of training and matches
because of Covid-19. However, we are well prepared now, having played in
different conditions during the past few months.

   "I think our middle-order batting has been excellent in recent times. As
this is a T20 tournament, I am expecting the opening batters to get us off to
quick starts. We have experienced campaigners to compliment the youthful
exuberance in our team. It's going to be a combined effort from all of us if
we do well here."