Sarmin Sultana back in Bangladesh ODI squad after seven years

For the first time in seven years, Bangladesh has included batter Sarmin Sultana in the ODI team for the three-match home series against Sri Lanka. One of the three additions to the squad that was selected for the World Cup in India at the end of last year is Sarmin's return. 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. However, Khatun last took part in an ODI in January 2025. Ferdous, on the other hand, made her Bangladesh debut in the T20 World Cup Qualifier in Nepal in February, but she hasn't played an ODI yet. After a disappointing World Cup last year, in which they finished seventh out of eight teams, Bangladesh will play their first one-day international series. Bangladesh will host Sri Lanka's first bilateral women's ODI series. In the previous bilateral ODI series, which was played in Sri Lanka in 2023, they had prevailed. 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 ODI matches in the upcoming series will be played in Rajshahi on April 20, 22, and 25. That will be followed by three T20Is on April 28 and 30, and May 2, in Sylhet.