ISLAMABAD, May 24 (Alliance News):Fatima Sana, who would be leading Pakistan in the ACC Emerging Women’s T20 Asia Cup, is looking forward to the opportunity as a platform to develop into a cricketer.
The ACC Emerging Women’s T20 Asia Cup would be played in Hong Kong next month. The national women’s selection committee has named a 14-player squad, which includes four players who featured in the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup earlier in the year, for the eight-team tournament that will be played from June 12 to 21, said a press release.
Fatima has played 31 ODIs and 24 T20Is and the decision to name her captain for the tournament has been made after she captained Strikers, based on probable for this squad, to wins in all three matches in the above-mentioned tournament and led Blasters’ successful T20 Championship campaign in Lahore in December. Fatima Sana said, “It is an honour for me to captain Pakistan in the upcoming tournament.
The responsibility of leading the emerging side will definitely help me develop as a cricketer and I am eagerly looking forward to leading my team in this important tournament. These players are full of energy and are excited about the opportunity ahead of them. “We have had good practice over the last few weeks, and the Pakistan Cup Women’s Cricket Tournament provided us ample match practice against tough sides.
Ahead of these matches, we had a healthy discussion as a team amongst ourselves that we have to make the most of these matches, and I am glad how every player stepped up and contributed in each game.” Chief selector Saleem Jaffar said, “Fatima Sana has displayed some outstanding leadership credentials in domestic tournaments recently, and I am sure she will lead this side with example.” Squad includes Fatima Sana (c), Anoosha Nasir, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Gulrukh, Lubna Behram, Najiha Alvi (wk), Natalia Parvaiz, Sadaf Shamas, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani and Yusra Amir. Reserves: Amber Kainat, Dua Majid, Fatima Khan and Rameen Shamim. Pakistan were slotted in Group A with Hong Kong, India A and Thailand A.
Pakistan would open their campaign on June 13 with a match against Thailand A, after which they play Hong Kong and India A on June 15 and 17, respectively. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals which will be played on June 19. The final of the tournament would be held on June 21.
The emerging team’s pre-tournament camp would begin Thursday, at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance and will run until June 8. They would depart for Hong Kong on June 9.
Player support personnel includes Aisha Jalil (manager), Mohsin Kamal (head coach), Muhammad Kamran Hussain (assistant coach), Muhammad Usman Shahid (analyst) and Rabia Siddiq (physiotherapist). The national women’s selection committee includes Asmavia Iqbal, Marina Iqbal and Mohtashim Rashid.