Former Bangladesh captain Salma Khatun becomes country’s 1st woman selector

Salma Khatun, a former Bangladesh captain, became the nation’s first female selector. She joins Sazzad Ahmed on the senior women’s selection panel. Khatun will have little time to settle into her new post as Bangladesh finalises preparations for the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, which begins on September 30.

While the roster has already been announced, Khatun will keep a careful eye on the players’ performances at the premier event. The Bangladesh men’s squad has recently generated some good results, including qualifying for the Super Fours of the 2025 Asia Cup despite being placed in a difficult group. Khatun will attempt to lead the Bangladesh women’s team to similar, if not greater, success in the coming years.

Salma Khatun, who was born in Khulna, was Bangladesh’s first women’s team captain.

She captained Bangladesh in 65 T20Is and 18 ODIs. She was the top-ranked bowler in T20I cricket in 2014 and 2015. In the shortest format, she took 84 wickets with her off-spin bowling, averaging 18.57, with best figures of 4/6 against Sri Lanka.

“I believe this is a revolutionary decision by our [BCB] president [Aminul Islam], as having someone like Salma involved will provide significant support for women’s cricket.” Iftekhar Rahman, chairman of the BCB’s media committee, stated that this is the first time such an appointment has been made in Bangladesh.

The board has also elevated Hasibul Hossain to the senior men’s selection committee. He will join chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain and Abdur Razzak. The third slot has been empty since Hannan Sarkar quit in February of this year.

Hasibul is a former seamer who played five Tests and 32 One-Day Internationals for Bangladesh. He played in the Tigers’ first Test against India in 2000 and was part of the memorable leg-bye that helped Bangladesh win the ICC Trophy final in 1997.