LAHORE: Javeria Khan will take the captaincy responsibilities of the women’s cricket team in the absence of Bismah Maroof for the upcoming tour of South Africa.
The national selection committee has announced a 17-player squad for ODI and T20I series against South Africa, which will be played in Durban and Pietermaritzburg. Ayesha Zafar, Kainat Imtiaz, Nahida Khan and Nashra Sandhu return to the women’s national team for the tour in which they will play the hosts in three ODIs and as many T20Is.
Nahida Khan finished the National Triangular T20 Women’s Cricket Championship as the leading run-scorer with 154 runs at an average above 51 from her four outings. Her PCB Dynamites teammate Ayesha Zafar was the fourth-best batswoman in the tournament with 111 runs.
All-rounder Kainat Imtiaz was awarded player of the tournament award as she scored 111 runs from four matches, and took three wickets, while left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu finished as the joint leading wicket-taker in the tournament with four wickets at 25.
When the team takes the field for the first one-dayer at Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, on 20th January, it will mark their return to international cricket after over 10 months due to the Covid-19-enforced hiatus.
After the second one-dayer at the same venue on 23 January, they will move to Pietermaritzburg where they will play the third ODI on 26th January and first two T20Is on 29th and 31st January. The team will return to Durban for the last T20I on 3rd February.
The 17-player squad will continue to prepare for the tour in the bio-secure environment set up on 20th December in Karachi before their departure on 11th January.
The selection committee led by Urooj Mumtaz which also includes Asmavia Iqbal and Marina Iqbal, considered the performances in the National Triangular T20 Women’s Cricket Championship, played from 22nd November until 1st December in Rawalpindi, along with form and fitness of the players in the High Performance and probables camp while finalising the squad.
Women’s squad for South Africa tour announced
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— PCB Media (@TheRealPCBMedia) December 31, 2020
