In a shocking turn of events ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, lead pacer Diana Baig, 27 has been ruled out because of a fracture to her index finger of the bowling hand.
This freak injury happened during the 2nd ODI against Australia in the ongoing series when she attempted to catch a ball on the penultimate ball of the seventh over while bowling to Australia and was taken to the hospital immediately with an X-Ray confirming her injury. She had just recovered from a shoulder injury and this injury will certainly weigh in on her as she will be sidelined for a minimum of four weeks.
Pakistan will miss Diana Baig in the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 – Sadaf Shamas announced as a replacement. #CricketTwitter #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/mWW7r9j4ao
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 21, 2023
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) talking about the injury released a press statement saying, “right-arm fast bowler Diana Baig has been ruled out of Australia T20Is and ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 due to fracture in her index finger of the right hand.”
Sadaf Shamas, a batter will replace her in the squad for the rest of the series and the World Cup. While Shamas was named as a reserve player besides the likes of Ghulam Fatima and Kainat Imitiaz, she will now find herself pushed to the main squad as the management is looking to beef up their batting in the absence of a fast bowler.
The ODI series so far versus Australia has been a nightmare for Pakistan having been clean-swept by Australia and the Women in Green will look to redeem themselves in the T20Is scheduled to start on 24th January.
Updated squad: Bismah Maroof (captain), Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Sadaf Shamas, Fatima Sana, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Tuba Hassan
Reserves: Ghulam Fatima, Kainat Imtiaz.
I am a first year postgraduate student pursuing a MA in Media and Communication Studies at Christ University, Bengaluru. I am a podcaster, blogger and an avid cricket fan. When not glued to cricket matches, you can find me submerged in books and thinking about cricket all the time.
