Sazzad Ahmed Shipon, Bangladesh Cricket Board's women's wing chief selector, said on Saturday that experienced opener Fargana Haque Pinky is not in their plans for the upcoming T20 World Cup in England, scheduled from June.
As a result, the women's national selection panel handed a maiden T20I call-up to opener Sarmin Sultana, naming her in the 15-member squad for the three-match WT20I series against Sri Lanka.
"Pinky is not there in our upcoming T20 World Cup plan so she is not there in the squad against Sri Lanka," Sazzad told Cricbuzz on Saturday.
"Before the World Cup, we are checking who can be played as openers, additional openers and we are keeping the ones who are with us and who are in touch," he said.
Sarmin, who recently returned to the national WODI side in the just-concluded series against Sri Lanka after a gap of six-and-a-half years, failed to impress, scoring 42 runs in three matches.
She had earlier scored 93 runs in five matches in the Women's Asia Cup Rising Stars in February and managed 40 runs in three matches during the Bangladesh Emerging team's series against South Africa last year.
The 32-year-old also scored 126 runs in seven innings in the Rajshahi National Cricket League (T20). However, Sazzad said the team management values her aggressive approach over raw numbers.
"With the resources I have at the moment, she can score runs quickly as she is an aggressive batter by nature because we see that we at times end up playing a lot of dot balls and so we are trying to score some runs at the top. If we can score in the power play, it becomes easier in the middle overs for Joty or Supta. That is why we are trying her as an opener," she said.
The three-match series will begin on April 28, with the remaining games scheduled for April 30 and May 2. All matches will be played at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, starting at 1:30 pm.
Squad: Nigar Sultana (captain), Nahida Akter (vice-captain), Dilara Akter, Sobhana Mostary, Fahima Khatun, Sharmin Akter Supta, Ritu Moni, Shorna Akter, Rabeya Khan, Sarmin Sultana, Marufa Akter, Fariha Islam Trisna, Sultana Khatun, Shanjida Akther Maghla and Juairiya Ferdous.
