Bangladesh Women’s eyeing semifinal in ICC Women’s T20 WC: Salma

Bangladesh Women's team set their target to reach the semifinal of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, emboldened by their historic feat to clinch the Asia Cup in 2018.

Bangladesh beat India twice in that tournament – once in the group phase and later in final — to be the first cricketing team from the country to win any multinational tournament.

Two years on and the two sides - Bangladesh and India - will meet again in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020, with the Tigresses keen to show how far they have come since that breakthrough moment.

They will take heart from the feats of compatriots as well, with Bangladesh winning the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa earlier this year.

But skipper Salma knows their focus can't just be on India given the challenges posed by New Zealand and hosts in Australia in Group A – two sides they have yet to play in T20I cricket.

"Our U19 World Cup was a great moment. We are ready for the World Cup," said Salma, speaking at the captains' media day at Taronga Zoo, Sydney.

"The Asia Cup was a great experience, but the focus is now on the World Cup. We want to be focusing on New Zealand and Australia instead.

"We are proud of what has happened before."

India will be Bangladesh's first opponent in Perth, Australia on February 24, prior to playing Meg Lanning's team in Canberra.

They will then head to Melbourne for two games, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, to determine whether they reach the Women's T20 World Cup semi-finals for the first time.

Their team may be lacking in experience playing Down Under, but not so for Rumana Ahmed, who joined Brisbane Heat as an ICC Rookie for the Women's Big Bash League in 2017.

"Coming here was a big opportunity for me, it was the first time I had been able to come to Australia," said Rumana, who played a starring role in the Asia Cup success over India.

"I learned a lot from here, especially how big teams practice.

"In every session I learned something, how they work in the gym and on their fitness, and it was a very good opportunity for me.

"We were very proud of the U19 team, we were very happy and we have gained some confidence from them. "We are very confident, it is the first time we are here so Australia haven't seen us and we haven't seen them," she added.