Unique Girls vs Boys sporting battle: Bangladesh senior women's team are practicing against their U-15 boys before Women's ODI World Cup

One of the significant developments in the modern era is gender equality. You could argue that there is still a bit of gulf between men and women across all fields but that gap is certainly reducing these days. The Bangladesh Cricket Board, however, have taken the term too seriously with an innovative experiment for their women's team ahead of the ODI World Cup in India next month. 

Bangladesh's senior women cricketers have split themselves into two teams - Bangladesh Red and Bangladesh Green - with the U-15 boys team being the common opponent for both the women's sides. These fixtures are part of the BCB's unconventional plan of keeping the women's cricketers battle ready before the showpiece event. The plan, however, has started on a bumpy note with Bangladesh Red losing to U-15 boys in the second game of the tournament, that too by a whopping 87-run margin. Such was the dominance of the U-15 boys side in this fixture that only four batters from the Red side got to double figures. 

In reply to the U-15 boys modest total of 181 from their stipulated 50 overs but in reply, Red led by national team skipper Nigar Sultana folded for a paltry total of 94 inside 39 overs. The clips from this contest went viral on social media, triggering debates about the standards of Bangladesh women's cricket and more importantly, whether such practice games between women and men are a realistic barometer of a side's form and skill levels. 

The Women's ODI World Cup is being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka with the format seeing all teams playing each other once in the tournament. The top four sides after the league stages will make it to the semifinals. Bangladesh's campaign starts against Pakistan in Colombo on October 2.