Pakistan’s preparation for Women’s T20 World Cup going in right direction

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan women’s cricket captain Bismah Maroof has said her team’s preparation for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is going in the right direction.

The Pakistan squad is currently playing a series in Australia. That will be followed by a trip to South Africa for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which will be played from February 10 to 26.

Pakistan are placed in Group B along with India, England, Ireland and West Indies. Group A has New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Bangladesh.

In a column for the International Cricket Council’s website icc-cricket.com, Bismah said playing against a top team such as Australia in their own backyard has “provided the players a great opportunity to prepare themselves and express their talent in the forthcoming event”.

“Our team has performed well in the last quarter of the past year. We have players like Tuba Hassan, Nida Dar, Sidra Amin — all winning ICC Player of the Month awards last year — and they are looking ahead to give the same performances in the upcoming event,” she said.

The Pakistan captain regretted losing right-arm fast bowler Diana Baig, a key player, to injury during the Australia series but was confident that they have other players in the squad looking forward to grab the opportunity.

Bismah said it was a great honour for her to lead the team in another ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. “I’ve been fortunate to have played across a number of World Cups and know just how special each tournament is,” she said.

She said it is great to see women’s cricket grow in the last few years. “The cricketers playing in the ongoing ICC U19 Women’s World Cup show how far women’s cricket has grown in recent times. Pakistan is also looking forward to host its Women’s League later this year, which is a great news for the women cricketers back home,” she said.

Speaking about Pakistan’s chances in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, Bismah said she knows that all teams will be well prepared but her team will focus on executing its own plans. “We are hopeful of getting results in our favour on any given day. We are here to do well and will give our 110 percent to give happiness to people back home.”