Bangladesh's Rumana Ahmed ruled out of World T20 qualifiers

The absence of Rumana, who is the skipper of the ODI squad, is a huge blow. © Getty

Bangladesh received a huge blow ahead of ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifiers in the form of an injury to their all-rounder Rumana Ahmed. Bangladesh will be taking on Papua New Guinea in the opening encounter of the qualifying tournament that's set to be played in Scotland from August 31 to September 7.

The absence of Rumana, who is the skipper of the ODI squad, will certainly be a huge void considering she forms the backbone of the team with her all-round skills.

BCB women's wing manager Nazmul Abedin confirmed to Cricbuzz on Friday that Rumana is currently going through a rehabilitation program for her knee injury and will not be available for the tournament.

''We cannot consider her for the World T20 qualifier as she is going through a recovery program and it will take quite some time for her to recover fully,'' Nazmul said. ''It is certainly a big loss considering she is an experienced cricketer and we will miss that experience in the middle."

Bangladesh pace bowler Jahanara Alam said that they are confident about qualifying for the World T20 but added that they are looking forward to win some matches in the tournament proper.

Bangladesh took part in three editions of World T20: 2014, 2016 and 2018 but have come up with one victory so far. There performance in the last edition was the most disappointing one considering they failed to win a match despite coming into the tournament with loads of confidence on the back of winning their maiden Asia Cup title.

''We are hopeful that we can do well in qualifying round and would qualify for the World Cup. And in the T20 World Cup, we want to win at least two matches first," Jahanara told reporters at the academy premises after their preparation session on Friday.

"Victory against big teams would help us to move into the top eight teams of ICC in the rankings. If we can move into the eighth position, we will get enough matches to play. And the more you play, the more you become experienced. So the target is to do well in World T20," she added.

Bangladesh women's team will go to Netherlands before arriving in Scotland for a 10-day preparation camp.