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Bangladesh have brought batter Sarmin Sultana back into the ODI side for the first time in seven years for the upcoming three-match series against Sri Lanka at home. Sarmin’s return is one among three changes to the squad that was selected for the World Cup in India late last year.
Offspinner Sultana Khatun and uncapped wicketkeeper-batter Juairiya Ferdous are the other inclusions for the Sri Lanka series. From the World Cup squad, Rubya Haider, Nishita Akter and Sumaiya Akter couldn’t find a place in the side to face Sri Lanka.
The last of 32-year-old Sarmin’s 13 ODIs had come against Pakistan in November 2019. She played in the Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars T20 tournament in February this year, where Bangladesh lost to India in the final. Khatun, though, last played an ODI in January 2025. Ferdous, meanwhile, made her debut for Bangladesh at the T20 World Cup Qualifier held in Nepal in February, but is yet to play an ODI.
Bangladesh will be playing their first ODI series after a disappointing World Cup last year, when they won only one out of seven matches to finish seventh in the eight-team competition.
This will be Sri Lanka’s first bilateral women’s ODI series in Bangladesh. They had won the only previous bilateral ODI series between the sides, which was played in Sri Lanka in 2023. Sri Lanka have an unbeaten record in women’s ODIs against Bangladesh, having won all three of the five completed matches. The teams’ previous meeting was at the World Cup in 2025, when Sri Lanka won a thriller by seven runs.
The three matches of the upcoming ODI series will be held on April 20, 22 and 25 in Rajshahi. That will be followed by three T20Is on April 28 and 30, and May 2, in Sylhet.
Bangladesh ODI squad vs Sri Lanka
Nigar Sultana (capt), Nahida Akter, Fargana Haque, Sobhana Mostary, Fahima Khatun, Sharmin Akter, Ritu Moni, Shorna Akter, Rabeya Khan, Sarmin Sultana, Marufa Akter, Fariha Islam Trisna, Sultana Khatun, Shanjida Akther Maghla, Juairiya Ferdous
