PCB announces 26-member squad for limited overs tour of West Indies

Pakistan have announced a 26-member squad for the upcoming limited-overs tour to West Indies starting on June 30. With regular skipper Bismah Maroof on a maternity leave, Javeria Khan takes on the leadership role. While Rameen Shamim and Sidra Nawaz have been named captains of the A teams for the three one-dayers and three T20s respectively.

In a refreshing and historic move, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials have managed to send the senior women’s team along with the A team for the tour to the Caribbean. This is move will the provide the players exposure and opportunity to showcase their skills against a quality West Indies team.

Urooj Mumtaz, the chairperson of the national women’s selection committee, feels all the 26 players selected have put in the hard yards in the high-performance camps over a period of eight to nine months.

‘These 26 players have been involved in all our high-performance camps over the past nine months and have put in the hard yards under the national coaching staff led by David Hemp. The group has prepared with high intensity and purpose. They remain focused and determined to put up winning performances. The Pakistan women’s team will play the West Indies in three T20Is and five ODIs and the ‘A’ side will take on their counterparts in three one-day matches and as many T20s,” Urooj Mumtaz said, as reported by Yahoo Cricket.

Urooj Mumtaz confident of Pakistan putting in a good performance in the West Indies

Over the past years, Pakistan have played good cricket beating top teams like South Africa and West Indies, truly establishing themselves as one of the top teams. When Sana Mir announced her retirement in early 2020, there were speculations as to how the team will cope up after a huge loss of a player as big as ger. But, Maroof stepped up and ably shouldered the responsibility along with Javeria Khan.

Mumtaz now is confident of the team putting on a good display against West Indies with a decent bunch of youth and experience in the squad.

“I am hopeful that there will be quality cricket on display as we aim to further improve our world standing and continue to push to become top contenders on the world stage.’ The first three T20Is is scheduled to be held on June 30, July 2 and July 4 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. The T20 games of the ‘A’ team will also take place at the same venue on the same dates.” she concluded.

Pakistan squad for the tour: Javeria Khan (captain, national team), Rameen Shamim (One-Day captain, ‘A’ team), Sidra Nawaz (T20 captain, A team), Aliya Riaz, Aiman Anwar, Anam Amin, Ayesha Naseem, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Iram Javed, Jaweria Rauf, Kainat Imtiaz, Kaynat Hafeez, Maham Tariq, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (wk), Nahida Khan, Najiha Alvi (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Saba Nazir, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, and Syeda Aroob Shah.