PESHAWAR: Pakistan women national cricket team skipper Bismah Maroof on Tuesday said that her team would perform its best during the forthcoming Tri-Series and the Commonwealth Games.
Talking to Media before leaving for Belfast via Dubai in the wee hours, Bismah said that the team had a great training camp for the tri-series in Ireland and the Commonwealth Games.
“We had taken a two-day Eid-ul-Azha break and were very confident of taking the two important tours – the Tri-Series in Ireland and Commonwealth Games,” Bismah said.
The squad trained and practiced in Rawalpindi and Islamabad at the Pindi Cricket Stadium and House of Northern for the last nine days and despite rain interrupted preparation sessions, the squad endeavored to make most of the available time by working on various aspects of T20 cricket including improvised drills, nets sessions and scenario-based matches, she added.
She disclosed that the management also arranged indoor training sessions for the team at the Shahbaz Sharif Sports Complex wherein besides bowling and batting drills and practice, the squad also worked hard on fielding and physical fitness under the supervision of the support staff led by head coach David Hemp.
Bismah, meanwhile, is looking forward to the two challenging events against formidable opponents. “Our preparations have suffered a bit due to the persistent rains as we could not play practice matches, we had to hence shift our focus to fitness more. We tried to make the most of the indoor facility we were provided and that did come as a good help to the side amid the weather challenges,” Captain Bismah Maroof said.
“The tri-series in Ireland provides us a good opportunity of acclimatizing to the conditions ahead of the Commonwealth Games. We have a good team combination with youngsters like Tuba Hassan, Ayesha Naseem and Fatima Sana providing real energy, skill and talent, they are the ones for the future and this tour is a real opportunity for them to make a big impression,” she said.
Answering another question, she said at the Commonwealth Games, we would take on the challenge of playing formidable opponents as to succeed there we need to beat the big teams, our aim would be to target a victory.
Pakistan will play their opening match of the Tri-Nation Women’s T20I Series against Australia at the Bready Cricket Club on July 16, 2022. Pakistan will play both Australia and Ireland twice, the top two sides will progress to compete in the final. All seven tournament matches will be staged at the Bready Cricket Club.
After the completion of the Tri-series, Pakistan will travel to Birmingham to take part in the Commonwealth Games. The green shirts are placed in Pool A alongside T20 world champions Australia, India and Barbados. Pakistan play Barbados in their opening match on Friday, 29 July. Cricket matches during the Games will be staged at the Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham.
Women Team Squad: Bismah Maroof (captain), Aimen Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Gul Feroza (wicketkeeper), Iram Javed, Kainat Imtiaz, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (wicketkeeper), Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal and Tuba Hassan.
Support staff: Ayesha Ashhar (Manager), David Hemp (Head coach), Saleem Jaffer (Bowling coach), Muhammad Zubair Ahmed (Analyst) and Rifat Asghar Gill (Physiotherapist).
Pakistan’s fixtures:
Tri-series at Belfast
July 16 – v Australia
July 19 – v Ireland
July 23 – v Australia
July 24 – v Ireland
Commonwealth Games at Birmingham:
July 29 – v Barbados
July 31 – v India
August 03 – v Australia
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