Pakistan has released their squad for the ICC Women’s World T20 happening next month in Australia from 21st February. Sana Mir has been dropped from the squad while Muneeba Ali and Aimen Anwar have been recalled.
As per PCB’s report, some uncapped players have also been included in the 15 member squad. This ICC tournament will be Ayesha Naseem’s World cup debut. The trio- Muneeba Ali, Aimen Anwar and Ayesha Naseem has replaced Nahida Khan, Ayesha Zafar and Rameen in the T20I squad, which lost against England in 3 match series in Kuala Lumpur last month.
Muneeba Ali performed extremely well in the National Triangular T20 Women’s Cricket Championship which led to her selection in the squad. She scored 292 runs with an average of 58.40. This will be her comeback in the team after 2018.
While Ayesha Zafar who is well known for her hard-hitting ability while batting at top of the order has impressed with her abilities at such a young age of just 15 years, scoring 64 runs at a strike rate of over 206. She hails from Abbottabad.
Aimen Anwar is a right arm fast bowler, she showed her bowling strength while Pakistan played against West Indies women in February 2019. She bagged 4 wickets in 5 matches with an economy rate of 7.68.
Pakistan will take off to Australia for the ICC event on 31st January to commence their camp with three warm-up matches against West Indies on February 7, 9 and 11. Prior to their departure, the team would have an eight-day camp from January 23 to 30 at the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre, Karachi.
Chairman of national women’s selection committee Urooj Mumtaz said the selection of 15-year-old Ayesha and 16-year-old Aroob Shah should be a motivation and message for all the budding youngsters.
“The team has been selected keeping in mind the current form and performances along with the conditions in Australia,” she said.
Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof said: “We have tried to strike the right balance of youth and senior players. It was a tough decision to leave out Sana Mir. I wanted to have her in the squad over which I, along with the selection committee, had deep deliberations. We had to decide between her and the emerging players who had been impressing on all the stages.
“I respect and support the decision of the major group and hope she will continue to serve Pakistan women’s cricket in the future with the same passion and energy, Share on X she said. Pakistan will share the tab alongside England, South Africa, Thailand and the West Indies in Group B.
Pakistan will play their opening match against West Indies. The average age of the Pakistan women’s squad is 24.8, clearly points towards the thoughtful selection and providing opportunities to youngsters for large stage.
Here’s @TheRealPCB Squad for @T20WorldCup next month. pic.twitter.com/DtUBsNCgk6
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 20, 2020
SQUAD: Bismah Maroof (capt), Aimen Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Iram Javed, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Nawaz (wk) and Syeda Aroob Shah.
Source: The Nation
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