Pakistan announces squad for ICC Women's T20 World Cup

Pakistan national women’s selection committee has announced a 15-player squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which will be held in Australia from 21 February to 8 March.

The team has been selected based on recent performances of the players in the international and domestic circuits.  

Muneeba Ali and Aimen Anwar have been recalled while Ayesha Naseem is the only uncapped player in the squad. The trio have replace Nahida Khan, Ayesha Zafar and Rameen Shamim in the T20I squad, which lost 3-0 to England in Kuala Lumpur last month.

As part of event preparation, Pakistan women will depart for Australia on 31 January and will play three warm-up matches against the West Indies on 7, 9 and 11 February.

Prior to their departure, the team will have an eight-day camp from 23-30 January at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre, Karachi. 

Squad :

Bismah Maroof (captain)

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 (wicketkeeper)

Syeda Aroob Shah

Muneeba, who last turned out for Pakistan in November 2018, has been recalled at the back of a prolific National Triangular T20 Women’s Cricket Championship, in which she scored 292 runs at a staggering average of 58.40. In the five innings of the just-concluded tournament, the left-handed opener scored a century and three half-centuries.

Ayesha has been inducted in the line-up for her hard-hitting abilities at the top of the order. The 15-year-old right-handed batter from Abbottabad scored 64 runs at a strike-rate of over 206.

Aimen, the right-arm medium-fast, took four wickets in five matches, bowling at an economy rate of 7.68, comes in as a new ball specialist to complement pacer Diana Baig and left-arm spinner Anam Amin in the Powerplay overs. She last played a T20I in February 2019 against the West Indies women in Karachi.

Urooj Mumtaz, the chair of the national women’s selection committee, said: “Jotting down the squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup was a tough task as many players had staked a claim in the side.

“Though the players who have been left out will be disappointed and heart-broken, this, however, should act as a motivation for them to comeback more strongly. On the other side of the coin, 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 and, at the same moment, we have come up with the right balance of youth and experience which will complement each other in the mega event. 

Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof said: “I am pleased that we have come forward with the best possible line-up which has the potential to have an impressive run at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. 

“We have tried to strike the right balance of youth and senior players. While selecting the squad we considered the recent performances in the international and domestic events.

Pakistan are drawn with England, South Africa, Thailand and the West Indies in Group B. 

The Bismah Maroof-led unit begin their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 journey on 26 February against the West Indies Women. The take on England Women on February 28 after which they play South Africa Women and Thailand Women on 1 and 3 March.

Officials:

Syed Iqbal Imam (head coach), Saleem Jaffer (bowling coach), Amir Iqbal (fielding coach), Gemaal Hussain (strength & conditioning coach), Dr Riffat Asghar Gill (physio), Aisha Jalil (team manager) and Zubair Ahmed (analyst).