LAHORE, January 20: Pakistan national women’s selection committee today 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.
Sana Mir, Pakistan s second-highest wicket-taker in WT20Is, has been left out of their 15-member squad for the ICC Women s T20 World Cup 2020. Mir, 34, had featured in every edition of the T20 World Cup, including the previous one in 2018. She is also their third-highest ranked player in the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Rankings for bowling. However, the off-spinner has not been in the best of forms of late, picking up just one wicket in her last four T20I appearances. She had taken a break in December 2019, missing the team s limited-overs series against England in Malaysia.
Recent performances in the international and domestic events as well as team combination considering condition Down Under were the overarching principles for the team selection.
The selectors have recalled Muneeba Ali and Aimen Anwar, while they have named uncapped Ayesha Naseem in the squad. The trio have replaced Nahida Khan, Ayesha Zafar and Rameen Shamim in the T20I squad, which lost 3-0 to England in Kuala Lumpur last month.
The average age of the side is 24.8, which also indicates the selectors’ vision and future planning.
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 (in alphabetical order): 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); and 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.
