Leicestershire, June 10 (IANS) As Bangladesh fine-tune their preparations for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, captain Nigar Sultana Joty has identified emerging opener Juairiya Ferdous as a player capable of making a significant impact when the tournament begins.

The 20-year-old batter has quickly established herself as one of Bangladesh’s brightest prospects since breaking into the senior side earlier this year. Her performances in the team’s warm-up fixtures have further strengthened expectations that she could play a defining role at the top of the order during the global event.

“She is going to be very important for us because she’s been a very good touch. She’s very young and she’s capable of hitting boundaries in the Powerplay as well as after it. We are looking forward to see her the same way she played for us,” Nigar said after Bangladesh’s warm-up match against Ireland at Loughborough University.

Ferdous showcased her attacking intent in both preparatory outings in Loughborough. Against defending champions New Zealand, she struck 26 off just 15 deliveries, before following it up with a fluent half-century against Ireland, scoring 50 from 38 balls. Those knocks have provided Bangladesh with a welcome boost ahead of their tournament opener against the Netherlands on Sunday, especially after the side suffered defeats in both warm-up encounters.

Despite the results, Nigar insisted the matches served their purpose and helped the team gather valuable lessons before the competition gets underway.

“We played two practice games and I think we have learned so many things from them. We really wanted to take all that positive stuff towards our first game and I guess we have some time to prepare ourselves. We’ll talk about and maybe we can work on the practice. So we will take all the good things and are looking forward for the first game,” she said.

Apart from Ferdous’ impressive returns with the bat, Bangladesh also found encouragement in the performances of spinner Sanjida Akter Meghla, with the captain highlighting several positives that emerged from the warm-up phase. With a young opener in form and a few encouraging signs despite the losses, Bangladesh will hope their preparations translate into success when their T20 World Cup campaign officially begins this weekend against the Netherlands.

–IANS

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