Captain of Pakistan’s women cricket team Bismah Maroof wants India to play bilateral matches against Pakistan. She believes India should keep sports away from politics.
Bismah Maroof, the current Pakistan captain of the national women’s team feels that India should agree for playing a bilateral series against them. Bismah is disappointed that Pakistan could not play against India in this year’s ICC Women’s Championship. The championship points will determine which teams will directly qualify for the Women’s World Cup in 2021. The top 8 teams of the world play against each other in a cycle, after which the top 4 teams get direct qualification for the 50-overs World Cup.
As reported by timesofindia.com, Bismah said that they wish to play against India and calls them a ‘top side’.
“India is a top side and we want to play them and I think they should keep sports away from politics,” she said.
It is not the first time that India have not agreed for a bilateral series against Pakistan. In the first cycle of the championship which was held during 2014-16, India had not played against Pakistan as a result of which, they had to forfeit the match points. India had to then play the World Cup Qualifier to advance to the 2017 World Cup. This time, BCCI has also refused to play in a neutral venue like UAE.
Bismah also expressed her disappointment in not being able to play England at home. Pakistan will be playing their ‘home’ matches against England in Malaysia. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to host the series in Malaysia after England refused to travel to Pakistan. Maroof said that playing at a neutral venue doesn’t give them the home advantage. Besides, she also feels that playing regularly against the international teams at home will promote women’s cricket in Pakistan.
Maroof also acknowledged that they will miss veteran bowler Sana Mir as she won’t be available for the England series. But she also believes that the new girls will get a good exposure before the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.
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