Bangladesh Women’s A team suffered a first defeat in the ongoing Sri Lanka tour, going down by 19 runs in the fourth T20 of the five-match series at Thurstan College in Colombo on Tuesday.

India are clear favourites but the visitors recently celebrated a landmark 2-0 series sweep in Pakistan.

Rohit's side begin a busy schedule with the opening match against Bangladesh starting on Thursday, after which they will host New Zealand in three games and then head to Australia in November for five more tests.

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha labelled the current Test team the ‘most rounded’ Tigers’ squad and said the recent 2-0 series win over Pakistan gave them the confidence to be ‘competitive’ in the upcoming two-match Test series against India.

The ICC has lifted the total prize pool for the 2024 edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup set to take place next month in the UAE to an impressive $7,958,080 — more than double that of the 2023 edition.

Fresh from their first-ever Test series win over Pakistan, Bangladesh will chase more cricket history when they face India in Chennai from Thursday.

A 2-0 clean sweep of Pakistan has propelled Bangladesh into the top four and neck-deep in the running for a World Test Championship Final spot.

Fernando last played for the Test team against New Zealand in March 2023 but has forced his way back after a strong showing for the Sri Lanka 'A' side against their counterparts from South Africa this month with scores of 122 and 80.

Beardman was named player of the match after taking 3-15 in just seven overs as Australia thrashed India by 79 runs in February's Under-19 World Cup final in South Africa.

Over the course of three weeks, the neighbouring countries will play two Tests and three T20Is.

The former India opener also highlighted that Bangladesh boast "promising new players" capable of making a significant impact, warning that no side can afford to be complacent against the Tigers.

“Alhamdulillah, by the grace of Almighty Allah, I am excited to share that I've officially qualified as an ICC Level 3 coach,” Ashraful wrote on Facebook.

“I genuinely believe this is the best Test team I have seen from them [Bangladesh] for a very, very long time,” Bhogle said in a video posted on his Youtube channel today.

When a defeat of 208 runs is the best ever result for a cricket team against another in away conditions, the difference in strength of the sides hardly needs any further explanation.

The three-match series finished level at 1-1 after Liam Livingstone's 87 helped England win the second T20 in Cardiff on Friday following Australia's commanding 28-run success in Wednesday's opener in Southampton.

Former India batter Ajay Jadeja said that India would be a handful for Bangladesh in the upcoming two-match Test series starting later this week. 

Thirty-four-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Buttler also missed the ongoing three-match Twenty20 series against Australia due to the same injury. That series is tied at 1-1 with the decider to be played later on Sunday.

Bangladesh cricket team arrived in Chennai on Sunday evening ahead of their first Test of the two-match Test series against India at the Chidambaram Stadium. 

The visitors have continued to field a starting eleven totally resembling their national team, treating the series as a tune-up for next month’s T20 World Cup -- scheduled to begin on October 3 in the UAE.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has told the media that his side would look to win both Test matches against India as the team left for Chennai this afternoon.