Sports

Nida Dar appointed captain of Pakistan women’s team

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced that under the new structure of the women’s cricket team, veteran Pakistan all-rounder Nida Dar was selected as captain, while Mark Coles was reappointed as head coach of the Pakistan women’s team.

Former Test cricketer Saleem Jaffar has been appointed chief selector, PCB confirmed in an announcement made via a press release.

Nida named captain, Coles reappointed coach, Saleem to head selection panel in Pakistan women's cricket shake-up

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/GLN0NPpUet pic.twitter.com/K8Jj6ElGFA
— PCB Media (@TheRealPCBMedia) April 6, 2023

After the approval of PCB Management Committee Chairman Najam Sethi, the names were announced.

“The appointments have been made in light of the PCB’s vision and strategy to invest further into women’s cricket and keeping in mind the upcoming international assignments, including hosting South Africa and tours to Bangladesh and New Zealand for the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 fixtures,” PCB said in a statement.

Overall, in an 11-month period from August 2023 to July 2024, Pakistan women’s team is scheduled to play five bilateral cricket series comprising a total of 15 ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 ODIs. In addition to these 50-over matches, Pakistan will play as many as 17 T20Is. These ODIs and T20Is will lead to the 10-team ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and the eight-team ICC Women’s World Cup in India, which will be held in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Nida Dar

Nida won the PCB Women’s Cricketer of the Year for 2021 and replaces Bismah Maroof, who stepped down from captaincy following the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa. Nida is one of the most experienced players in the country, having represented Pakistan in 130 T20Is and 99 ODIs.

She is also the leading wicket-taker in T20I women’s cricket with 126 wickets to her name.

Nida was also a member of the Pakistan side that won the Asian Games gold in 2010 and 2014 in Guangzhou, China, and Incheon, South Korea. In 2019, she became the first Pakistan women’s cricketer to feature in Australia’s women’s franchise cricket.

In the ICC Women’s Rankings, Nida is presently ranked 32nd, 24th, and ninth in the ODI batters, bowlers, and all-rounders’ categories, respectively. In T20Is, Nida is the 38th-ranked batter, 21st-ranked bowler, and seventh-ranked all-rounder.

Mark Coles

Coles previously served as Pakistan women’s cricket team head coach from 2017 to 2019 and during his time, the side achieved major results, including a fifth finish in the ICC Women’s Championship 2017-2020 that paved the way for the side to feature in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022.

Also during his time, Sana Mir became the most successful ODI spinner in the world, Javeria Khan and Bismah Maroof were named to lead a multi-nation Women’s Global Development Squad and Nida Dar became the first Pakistan woman player to earn a contract in the WBBL.

Coaching panel

Mark Coles (head coach), Mohtashim Rasheed (fielding coach), Taufeeq Umar (batting coach) and Saleem Jaffar (bowling coach).

Selection committee

Saleem Jaffar (chairman), Asmavia Iqbal, Marina Iqbal and Mohtashim Rasheed (members).

Upcoming bilateral series of Pakistan women’s team

Aug/Sep 2023: South Africa tour to Pakistan (three ODIs & three T20Is)

Oct/Nov 2023: Pakistan tour to Bangladesh (three ODIs & three T20Is)

Nov/Dec 2023: Pakistan tour to New Zealand (three ODIs & three T20Is)

Feb 2024: West Indies tour to Pakistan (three ODIs & five T20Is)

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Jul 2024: Pakistan tour to England (three ODIs & three T20Is)

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Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam get special jerseys from PCB chairman

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

After the victory over Ireland, Babar Azam surpassed Uganda’s Brian Masaba (44 victories) to become the most successful skipper in T20I history with 45 wins. Since taking over as captain in 2019, Azam has guided Pakistan in 78 games.

In the interim, Shaheen Afridi reached the noteworthy landmark of 300 wickets in international cricket. During the second Twenty20 International, Ireland skipper Paul Stirling became his 300th wicket.

The 24-year-old is also the fifth-youngest bowler to reach the mark.

Since making his international debut in 2018, he has played in 145 matches across all formats for Pakistan. In Test cricket, he claimed 113 wickets, while in ODI and T20I, he claimed 104 and 84 wickets respectively.

Interestingly, in the second Twenty20 International, Pakistan chose to bowl first, and in the fourth over, Afridi dismissed both of Ireland’s openers, bringing the score down to 34-2.

Nonetheless, Ireland reached 193 in their allotted 20 overs thanks to an outstanding 51 runs from 34 balls by Lorcan Tucker, which included five boundaries and two sixes. Gareth Delany also hit a rapid 28 off 10 balls.

Thanks to the half-centuries of Fakkhar Zaman and Muhammad Rizwan, Pakistan was able to successfully chase the 194-run mark with 19 balls remaining.

After early wickets from Babar Azam (0) and Saim Ayub (6), they put up a 140-run partnership in 78 balls to turn the tide of the match in Pakistan’s favour.

With an undefeated 75 off 46 balls that included six boundaries and four sixes, Rizwan top-scored for Pakistan, while Zaman was removed after making 78 runs off of 40 balls.

Another important contributor was Azam Khan, who scored an undefeated 30 off 10 with four sixes. In the seventeenth over, he blasted three sixes off Mark Adair to end the match in spectacular fashion.

Pakistan and Ireland will play their third and final Twenty20 International tomorrow, May 14.

Latest News

PCB will install floodlights for PSL matches at Quetta Stadium.

Published

1 week ago

Farwa

By installing floodlights by September, PCB will keep its word. Following stadium renovations, PSL matches would also be held in Quetta, according to Naqvi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

He stated at a press conference held at Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti Cricket Stadium that the possibility of holding Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches in Quetta was being considered.

In Gwadar and Quetta, he said, the PCB would do its part to promote cricket.
Quetta Stadium will soon have floodlights installed, as announced by the interior minister, which Chief Minister Bugti congratulated for the news.

The province has a wealth of skills, and installing floodlights will help promote sports and cricket in particular. He responded to a query by saying that chances will be given to the province’s youth at the federal level.

Latest News

The women’s team from Pakistan travels to England for a white-ball series.

Published

1 week ago

Farwa

The national squad left Karachi earlier today to play three Twenty20 Internationals and three One-Day Internationals in the series.

Dr. Muhammad Faisal, Pakistan’s High Commissioner in England, greeted the women’s team and management.

The team will soon depart for Leicester to play a practice match on 9 May against the ECB Development XI. On May 11, in Birmingham, the first Twenty20 International will take place.

Notably, this will be Pakistan’s eighth and final series of the current event cycle. The ODIs in the series are a part of the ICC Women’s Championship 2022–25.

Pakistan women squad for England tour

Nida Dar (captain), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Najiha Alvi (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani and Waheeda Akhtar

Player support personnel: Nahida Khan (manager), Mauhtashim Rasheed (interim head coach), Saleem Jaffar (bowling coach), Taufeeq Umar (batting coach), Hanif Malik (fielding coach), Syed Nazir Ahmed (media manager), Rabia Siddiq (physiotherapist), Zubair Ahmed (analyst) and Hina Munawar (chief security officer)