Jahanara, rejuvenated, prepares for the Asia Cup

The improved bowling action of Bangladeshi fast bowler Jahanara Alam has enabled her to accelerate her pace. After more than a year, it cleared the path for a return to the national setup.

Jahanara last competed for Bangladesh in a three-match away T20I series against Sri Lanka in May 2023. She returned to the national team in May 2023 after earning a spot in the T20 Asia Cup squad thanks to a strong showing in the Dhaka Premier League, where she finished as the top wicket-taker with 25 scalps.

The right-arm bowler acknowledged that she made an international comeback with the assistance of famous coach Mohammad Salahuddin, who has worked closely with her at the Masco Cricket Academy since she was cut from the national team.

“All glory to Allah, I have made it back to the national squad after a gruelling year. I trained for nine months at Masco Academy throughout this time. Sheikh Salauddin Sir and the other coaching staff members who were present have put in a lot of effort working with me to help me perform better,” Jahanara stated in a statement released by BCB on Friday.

“In fact in every moment I have tried to be prepared so that whenever the call comes from the women’s national team I can grab the opportunity,” she explained.

I also performed well in the most recent Premier League, and you could argue that’s because of my intensive nine-month training programme. I will be able to represent Bangladesh once more, so all in all, I’m feeling extremely wonderful,” she remarked.

During Jahanara’s stay at Masco Academy, Salahuddin informed Cricbuzz on Friday that their main goal was to accelerate her.

“No one can raise question about her dedication level because she used to visit here [Masco Academy] regularly though it is far from Dhaka and she did all these things as she wanted to do something better,” Salahuddin added.

“Actually we tried to increase her pace because the pace she was bowling didn’t look good enough to be effective at the international level,”

In order to improve the ball’s effectiveness and highlight the tactical aspects of her bowling, we also attempted to give her a stronger game plan.

“If someone loses it, it’s always challenging to pick up the speed. He stated, “But she was able to accomplish that through sheer hard work and could understand what needs to be done to generate pace.”

“We tried to remodel her action a bit so that she can generate more pace because with her previous action, it was difficult for her to generate pace by bowling with that action,” he said.

Jahanara went on to say that she places a high value on her fitness because she knows it’s one thing that can have a lasting impact. They also want to make a big impression at the next Asia Cup.

“Our first aim is to reach the semi-final and there is an equation that if we can play the semi-final as the champion of the group stage in that case we might get Pakistan and that is likely to be an easier opponent and we are trying to do that,” stated the former national captain.

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia are in Group B, while Pakistan, India, Nepal, and the United Arab Emirates are in Group A.

The championship game is scheduled for July 28. The top two teams from each group will compete in the semi-finals on July 26.