Habibul Bashar, the former captain of the Bangladesh men’s cricket team, has been appointed as the head of the women’s wing of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Tuesday. Bashar, who was a member of the men’s selection panel from 2016 to 2024, took charge of his new role after a meeting at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. He was welcomed by the women’s wing committee chairman Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel and the women’s team captain Nigar Sultana Joty.

Bashar’s appointment came after the BCB dissolved the men’s selection panel, which was headed by Minhajul Abedin Nannu, and formed a new one, led by Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu. Hannan Sarkar replaced Bashar as a member of the new panel. Bashar had previously served as the selector of the women’s wing before joining the men’s panel in 2016.

Bashar said he was excited to take up the challenge of developing women’s cricket in the country and hoped to work closely with the women’s wing committee and the BCB program head David Moore. He also said he had plans to introduce school cricket for girls, franchise cricket for women, and scholarship programs for talented female cricketers.

Bashar’s appointment comes ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier, which is scheduled to be held in Zimbabwe in July 2024. Bangladesh are one of the 10 teams that will compete for the three remaining spots in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, which will be held in India.