Pakistan Women's team can take inspiration from Sarfraz Ahmed & Co: Shahid Afridi

With the ICC Women’s World Cup set to commence on June 24, Pakistani all-rounder and former captain, Shahid Afridi encouraged the Pakistan Women’s team to seek inspiration from Safraz Ahmed & Co. in their bid for the World Cup. Sarfraz Ahmed is now being looked upon as the national hero of Pakistan after leading his side to a dominating victory in the ICC Champions Trophy finals against arch-rivals India, claiming his first ICC trophy in his journey as captain.

Yesterday, Pakistan Women’s defeated their West Indies counterparts by five wickets in their World Cup warm-up match at Grace Road ground after they successfully chased a daunting target of 247. Sana Mir claimed two wickets for 46 runs while Asmavia Iqbal, Sadia Yousuf and Kainat Imtiaz took one wicket each.

In his words of motivation for the Women’s team ahead of their campaign, Afridi wrote, “The Pakistan women’s side does not need to go far to find inspiration ahead of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017. The men’s team led by Sarfraz Ahmed has shown it the way, proving how predictions can go for a toss with a few stimulating performances,” quoted ICC.

Afridi’s advice

Afridi was critical of the men’s team after their humiliating loss against India in the tournament opener but in his advice he mentioned the need to play a fearless brand of cricket. Since that remained the trademark for the Champions this year, he also urges the Women’s team to follow that principle.

“My advice to the team would be similar to the one that I gave to the men’s team – the players must play fearless cricket and shouldn’t be worried about defeat,” wrote Afridi for ICC.

The former captain went on to praise Pakistan Women’s team skipper Sana Mir for her leadership and said that she should ‘led from the front’ pretty similar to Sarfraz in the Champions Trophy. Mir had said earlier that the Pakistan team had reached England several days before the commencement of the mega event to train and get acclimatized with English conditions.

“Sana has done a wonderful job as an astute and intelligent leader. She has left a lasting impression on the game and has been the most recognised female cricketer in the country for a long time,” he concluded.

Pakistan will face South Africa on June 25 in their first fixture. The team will play against England on June 27, India on July 2, Australia on July 5, New Zealand on July 8, West Indies on July 11, and Sri Lanka on July 15.