Jahanara, Nahida happy to be back on the field

Despite the number being 10 initially, 27 male cricketers started practising individually at five grounds across the country after the Eid vacation. Two of their female counterparts joined the individual practice session on Monday at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

Initially, four female cricketers were supposed to join, but only Jahanara Alam and Nahida Akter practised individually on Monday. The two bowlers did a running and gym session separately.

They were extremely glad to be back on the field after so many days. Apart from the running session, Jahanara bowled three overs. The right arm seamer was satisfied to return to practice at her familiar place.

"It's really satisfying to return. I bowled after so many days. I read in the newspaper and watched on TV that some of the male cricketers felt giddy and had blurry visions on the first day of their return. I was afraid of what would happen to us female cricketers. But nothing like that happened to me thankfully," Jahanara said.

Jahanara thanked the Bangladesh Cricket Board for making the arrangements: "BCB made all the arrangements of our practice on its own. We didn't need to tell them. We are really thankful to the board."

BCB instructed the female bowlers not to send down more than three overs in the first week. According to the schedule, they will practice for two more days this week.

"I returned to Dhaka on August 5. I began practising at Shyamoli Academy for two days after that. I fielded so well that the coach there told me that it looked like I was out of action for only a week," Jahanara mentioned.

Slow left-arm orthodox bowler Nahida was also overjoyed to be back. "We have returned here after five months. I did a gym session and bowled a bit. It was slightly difficult but it went well," the 20-year old said.

Nahida mentioned that the virtual sessions with psychologist Ali Khan were beneficial. "We got to learn a lot there. We came to understand how to increase mental toughness. We learned how to prepare ourselves for new and changing situations," the spinner mentioned.