Pakistan pacer Diana Baig ruled out of ongoing Australia series and Women's T20 World Cup 2023

Due to a fracture in the index finger of her right hand, 27-year-old pacer Diana Baig has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against Australia and will also miss the Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa starting February 10.

Baig suffered the injury while fielding in the third ODI against the hosts at the North Sydney Oval ground on Saturday, January 21. In an attempt to catch the ball on the penultimate ball of the seventh over of Australia’s innings, Baig hurt herself and was immediately taken to a local hospital.

An X-ray was then conducted which confirmed the fracture and then immediately she was advised at least four weeks’ rest by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) medical panel. The injury has made her unavailable for the upcoming tournaments, with the governing body naming right-handed batter Sadaf Shamas, who was part of the reserves as her replacement.

Notably, the Bismah Maroof-led side failed massively in the 50-overs format as they were clean-swept by Australia. Batting first in the final ODI, Beth Mooney once again stamped her authority as she smashed 133 runs off just 105 deliveries. Later on, skipper Meg Lanning joined the party and played a brilliant innings of 72 runs off 70 deliveries and courtesy of their knocks, Australia posted 336 runs on board after 50 overs. 

Pakistan with the bat never looked comfortable as the Australian team was all over them right from the start. Despite that, they fought well but never looked like the favourites to win the match. Most of their batters got starts but eventually failed to make it count as Pakistan lost the match by 101 runs. The form of their batters is a massive cause of concern ahead of the T20I series and the all-important T20 World Cup.

Meanwhile, the T20I series is all set to begin on January 24 in Sydney. The second and third matches of the series will be played on January 26 and January 29 in Hobart and Canberra respectively. 

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store