Pakistan former cricketers are excited for the upcoming the three Women’s League exhibition matches, scheduled to take place at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on 8, 10 and 11 March with 10 foreign players from seven countries to feature in the T20 matches.
Women’s matches will start at 2pm and will be followed by the men’s matches at 7pm.
Bismah Maroof will captain Amazons, which include Ireland’s Laura Delany, England’s trio of Lauren Winfield-Hill, Maia Bouchier and Tammy Beaumont, and Australia’s Tess Flintoff. Nida Dar will lead Super Women, which will comprise Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu, Danni Wyatt of England, Jahanara Alam of Bangladesh, South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Lea Tahuhu of New Zealand.
Former Pakistan captains Sana Mir and Urooj Mumtaz and former international player Marina Iqbal, who are all part of the commentary panel for the HBL PSL 8, expressed their delight on the hosting of the women’s exhibition matches next week in Rawalpindi.
Marina Iqbal, who represented Pakistan in 78 matches in a statement said: “The hosting of exhibition matches is a step forward in the growth of women’s cricket. The matches provide a huge opportunity to the emerging players to share the dressing room with international stars. When we used to play, we always looked forward to such opportunities, meeting with the stars, interacting with them and asking them about their skills and fitness.
“It is an opportunity for budding cricketers to play alongside top cricketers, learn from them, compete with them and also see where they stand in the game.”
Sana Mir, who represented Pakistan in 226 international matches, said: “I am really excited as this is the first time exhibition matches are taking place for the women’s league. This will provide an opportunity to the women cricketers to come forward and showcase their skills.
“These exhibition matches are very important for the local players to know and understand the requirements of the modern day cricket, what international players are doing, how they can improve their skill-set and how they can perform in the pressure situations.
“The league at home will not only help players to improve their game, but it also gives them a chance to get selected in foreign leagues.”
Urooj Mumtaz, who played for Pakistan in 48 international matches from 2004 to 2010, said: “These exhibition matches taking place alongside HBL PSL 8 is a huge thing, it will increase the viewership and attracts the younger audience to come forward and adopt this game, boosting women’s cricket.
“The cricketers playing in the league have a great opportunity to inspire young women not just pick this game but pick up any other sport because cricket is playing a huge role for other sports in Pakistan.
“I will urge the people in Pindi to come and support women’s cricket and enjoy the level of women’s cricket which has gone up in this country after a time.”
Squads:
Amazons – Bismah Maroof (captain), Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Areesha Noor, Eyman Fatima, Fatima Khan, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Gull Feroza, Kainat Imtiaz, Laura Delany (Ireland), Lauren Winfield-Hill (England), Maia Bouchier (England), Nashra Sundhu, Sadaf Shamas, Tammy Beaumont (England), Tess Flintoff (Australia) and Umm-e-Hani
Super Women – Nida Dar (captain) Aimen Anwar, Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka), Danni Wyatt (England), Iram Javed, Jahanara Alam (Bangladesh), Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa), Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand), Muneeba Ali, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Syeda Aroob Shah, Syeda Masooma Zahra and Tuba Hassan
Schedule:
8 Mar – 1st match, 2pm, Pindi Cricket Stadium. Shozab Raza and Saleema Imtiaz (on-field umpires), Tariq Rasheed (third umpire) and Humaira Farah fourth umpire. Mohammad Anees (match referee)
10 Mar – 2nd match, 2pm, Pindi Cricket Stadium. Shozab Raza and Humaira Farah (on-field umpires), Tariq Rasheed (third umpire) and Saleema Imtiaz (fourth umpire). Mohammad Anees (match referee)
11 Mar – 3rd match, 2pm. Tariq Rasheed and Saleema Imtiaz (on-field umpires), Shozab Raza (third umpire) and Humaira Farah (fourth umpire). Mohammad Anees (match referee).
