KARACHI: Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof has said that the Twenty20 World Cup is a “big opportunity to showcase our talent” and boost recognition of women’s cricket in the country.
The 31-year-old all-rounder will spearhead a Pakistan team which has never been beyond the first round in seven previous appearances at the tournament.
“There were times when no one or very few people would know that the Pakistan women’s cricket team exists,” Maroof told AFP “With more matches and live coverage we have earned recognition and respect.”
Pakistan’s women will need to vastly improve on past World Cup performances if they are to make an impact at the 10-team tournament.
They have won only seven of their 28 World Cup matches to date, although two were against India, in 2012 and 2016.
Maroof and her team-mates will be chasing a third victory over their arch-rivals when the two sides clash in Cape Town on February 12 to kick off their campaigns.
Pakistan is ranked seventh in the world, meaning they will have to over-perform if they are to make it past the first round at the World Cup for the first time.
At last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Pakistan finished bottom of their group, behind T20 world champions Australia, India and Barbados, losing all three games.
They will be missing star pace bowler Diana Baig for the World Cup after she fractured a finger in a comprehensive 101-run one-day defeat to Australia last month.
But in Fatima Sana, 21, they have a bowling all-rounder who won the International Cricket Council’s emerging women’s cricketer award last year.
