Sports Bulletin

Sports Bulletin Report ISLAMABAD:-United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ireland confirm the big tickets to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia on Tuesday after reaching the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier A, supported by Dream 11, at Al Amerat. The two winning teams took the 13th and 14th spots for the tournament in Australia later this year, with the last two places to be decided at the Qualifier B in July. Chasing an imposing victory target of 176 to win, Nepal were rocked by the early strikes of UAE pacer Junaid Siddique. The quick, was in top gear, removing the top-three Nepal batters in his three-over spell. A sensational opening over saw Siddique sending back opener Aasif Sheikh and one-down batter Lokesh Bam off two successive balls. Nepal were 3-2 in six balls and the chase looked a tall order. Siddique then took the prize scalp of Nepal’s in-form batter Kushal Bhurtel in his second over. UAE skipper Ahmed Raza’s double-strike in the 13th over extinguished whatever hopes Nepal had as they were down to 83-6. Raza’s golden arm found him more success to wrap up Nepal innings for 107 and his five-wicket haul earning him the player of the match award. The experienced duo of Dipendra Singh Airee (38) and Gyanendra Malla were the only batters to reach double digits. Earlier, Vriitya Aravind, the new poster boy of UAE Cricket, continued with his blazing batting display. A whirlwind knock of 46 off 23 set the tone for his team’s impressive total. Opting to make the first use of the wicket, UAE plans to get off a fast start in the match were thwarted by Nepal bowlers. Chirag Suri was castled by Jitendra Mukhiya, who finished with a three-wicket haul, as UAE were 6-1 in 10 balls. Opener Muhammad Waseem regained his touch and along with Aravind took the rival attack to the cleaners. The teenager had hammered 5 fours and 3 maximums. He has now scored 267 runs so far to be the leading run-getter in the qualifiers. Waseem and Mohammad Usman then shared a stand of 64. Waseem cut loose in the 11th over smashing two boundaries and a six of Bohara. The opener reached his half-century in style with a six off Kamal Airee. With five overs remaining, UAE were 131/2. They put the pedal on the metal but lost two wickets in the 17th over off Bohara, who dismissed Usman and Waseem. Waseem’s 48-ball 70 was laced with 4 fours and 4 sixes. Zawar Farid’s big hits got UAE a productive over, but he perished in the same over. UAE added another 21 in the last two overs to reach 175. Ireland ease to victory Batting first after losing the toss, Ireland posted a total of 165/7. Gareth Delany top scored with a masterfully constructed 32-ball 47. Oman began the Powerplay well as Ireland’s usually reliable opening pair – Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie - failed them this time. However, Delany and Harry Tector erected an 82-run fourth wicket stand to put the pressure back on the hosts. Tector was the aggressor early on, but once Delany settled in, fireworks ensued on both ends of the wicket. Skipper Zeeshan Maqsood in particular endured a difficult afternoon with the ball as Delany devoured his only over, smashing three consecutive sixes. Bilal Khan had dismissed both the openers earlier and Kaleemullah matched his strike partner’s efforts by plotting Tector’s demise for a well-made 35. Lorcan Tucker followed suit in the very next ball, and with Khawar Ali sending Delany back in the following over, Oman had their tails up for the final stretch of the innings. With good reason too, as Ireland were placed precariously at 106/5 at the end of 14 overs. George Dockrell chipped in with a valuable 16-ball 18, but it was Andy Mcbrine that provided the fuel to take Ireland past 150. His quick-fire 36 included 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Bipin Dani Sri Lanka's two prominent cheerleaders-Gayan Senanayaka and Mohammed Nilam-who were scheduled to arrive in India on Wednesday evening (original plan was to reach India on Tuesday night) will miss the first T-20I in Lucknow. This is because of the Indian cricket board's decision taken in consultation with the host body (UPCA-Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association) to disallow the fans for pandemic reasons.    Confirming the same on Wednesday morning, Gayan Senanayaka said, "we are reaching Delhi on Wednesday, will stay there for two days and will directly head to Dharamshala.  The first T-20I (Night) will be played on Thursday in Lucknow.  "During this pandemic, I have missed many matches but anyhow, the time has now come to cheer for our team. The game without fans is really boring".  Both supporters will be at the ground for two ODIs' in Dharamshala. "We will also attend the first Test at Mohali. It will be our pleasure to attend the Mohali Test, which will be Virat Kohli's 100th Test".  Their presence in the second Test at Bangalore will depend on the BCCI's policy to allow fans. Gayan and Nilam are Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's fans. "We have requested them to provide us with match-tickets".   It may here be recalled that Rohit, in 2017 had provided air tickets to Nilam during the latter's India trip when he learnt that his father was ill in Sri Lanka. India's captain. Next year, Rohit Sharma, who was in Colombo leading the side in the Nidahas Trophy, didn’t forget his promise and paid a visit to Nilam’s family.  Gayan Senanayaka's Indian visit is being sponsored by Deen Brothers. "We have been sponsoring his tours since the last ten years", Najeeb Deen, the Managing Director of the company said over the telephone. Najeeb Deen, the former member of Sri Lanka Cricket's tour organizing committee is also a great fan and has visited ten countries and has witnessed five out of 6 World Cup finals (ODIs and T-20Is) in which his team reached finals.  

Sports Bulletin Report ISLAMABAD:-Over 150 men’s and women’s players from 2021 have been retained by their team 28 centrally contracted England players and 19 international names confirmed so far Women’s title holders Oval Invincibles retain most of their side including captain and last year’s Most Valuable Women’s Player Dané Van Niekerk, Marizanne Kapp, England stars Tash Farrant and Mady Villiers, and 2021 breakthrough star Alice Capsey. Current men’s champions Southern Brave retain ten players with Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills and James Vince all returning for year two along with Jofra Archer, who was signed last year but unable to play because of injury. Overseas stars Ellyse Perry, Lizelle Lee, Marcus Stoinis, Smriti Mandhana, Rashid Khan, Alyssa Healy, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell will join the action this summer. Heather Knight, Jos Buttler, Sophia Dunkley, Joe Root, Kate Cross and Moeen Ali among the England stars confirmed. Retained stars revealed: Birmingham Phoenix welcome back the likes of England star Moeen Ali, Tom Abell and the biggest hitter of last year’s competition, Liam Livingstone, to their men’s squad. As they have nine players retained they will be looking to fill five spots in The Draft. The women’s side have announced 12 retained players including a few of those who couldn’t make it last year due to Covid-19 restrictions. Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry and New Zealand captain Sophie Devine will join Phoenix playing alongside Amy Jones, Kirstie Gordon and Issy Wong. London Spirit have kept on England Women’s captain Heather Knight as well as breakout star Charlie Dean and England teammate Freya Davies. The women’s side will be looking to sign seven more players to complete their team whereas the men’s have six spots to fill in The Draft. Eoin Morgan will again lead the Lord’s home-side with a star-studded dressing room including Ravi Bopara and Aussie batter Glenn Maxwell. The world’s top ranked women’s IT20 bowler, Sophie Ecclestone, will remain with the Manchester Originals along with recently England-capped Emma Lamb and South African batter Lizelle Lee. The men’s team have a wealth of homegrown talent staying with them in Phil Salt and Matt Parkinson as well as England keeper Jos Buttler. Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, Faf du Plessis and Harry Brook are just a few names that have signed with Northern Superchargers for 2022. The women’s side welcomes back the top individual run scorer of the women’s competition, Jemimah Rodrigues, who stole the show with a stunning 92 not out against Welsh Fire at Headingley last year. Reigning women’s champions Oval Invincibles retain much of their side including captain Dané van Niekerk, Mady Villiers and breakout star, Alice Capsey. Sam Billings, Saqib Mahmood and the Curran brothers are also staying put this year. Men’s title holders Southern Brave retain much of their winning squad including Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills and centrally contracted Jofra Archer who missed out last year with an elbow injury. The women’s squad have retained England trio Anya Shrubsole, Danni Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley as well as Smriti Mandhana. England duo Nat Sciver and Katherine Brunt are sticking with Trent Rockets alongside England teammate Sarah Glenn. Meanwhile, the men’s side have retained England Test captain Joe Root, Afghanistan superstar Rashid Khan and Dawid Malan. Welsh Fire have resecured England stars Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball and Ollie Pope and the women’s squad will see the return of West Indian all-rounder Hayley Matthews, Katie George and Claire Nicholas, who returns in 2022 after opting out of the 2021 competition following the birth of her second child. Issy Wong, who will play again for Birmingham Phoenix, said: “I’m so excited to be back playing with Birmingham Phoenix this summer. Last year was incredible for us and the women’s game, it’s only going to get bigger and better with world-class players like Ellyse Perry being able to join this time around. We can’t wait to get going again and to perform in front of full houses again.” Eoin Morgan, who will feature for London Spirit again, said: “The first year of The Hundred was a huge success. We saw quality cricket in front of incredible crowds, and it was awesome to see so many families coming to watch. It was also really special to see so many fans watching both us and the women’s team and it’s undeniable that The Hundred as has a massive impact on the women’s game. Sophie Ecclestone, who has been retained by Manchester Originals, said: “The Hundred is such a cool competition to be involved in and I’m thrilled to be taking part again with Manchester Originals. We were really getting into a groove in the back end of the competition last year, so we have nothing but high hopes for this summer.” Rashid Khan, who will play again for Trent Rockets, said: “I loved taking part in the first edition of The Hundred last year. Playing a new format for the first time was a lot of fun as a bowler. The fans at Trent Bridge were amazing and I can’t wait to get back and entertain them this summer. Hopefully we can go one better and make the final.”

Captain of the Australian women's cricket team Meg Lanning speaks during a media opportunity ahead of the ODI leg of the 2022 Women's Ashes Series, at Manuka Oval on February 02, 2022 in Canberra, Australia. All captains at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 are writing columns for the ICC ahead of the tournament, which are available for free editorial use in the Online Media Zone There's no doubt that the 50-over World Cup has been on the radar for a little while, it comes around pretty rarely compared to T20 World Cups so we're looking forward to the opportunity to go and compete. It's a pure World Cup in the sense that you play everybody throughout the tournament, and once you get to the end, if you can finish on top it's a pretty amazing effort. We're all really excited about the chance to play in a one-day World Cup and obviously we're going there to win but it's going to be a pretty tough tournament to play. A lot of our players were involved in that 2017 World Cup, which didn't quite end the way we would have liked and I think since then we've changed the way we approach and play our cricket and are a lot more positive and willing to take a few more risks and I think that suited our game style. It is the trophy that we don't have our hands on at the moment and we're all very keen to try and change that. Being the No.1 ranked team, we go in there with a lot of confidence, but World Cups are extremely difficult to win. There's a lot of cricket to be played and then you need to play pretty consistently across a long period of time, which is a big challenge and there are a number of world class teams out there, who are playing really good cricket. It's really exciting for the young players in the squad to only know life as full-time professional cricketers and it's great for them to have the opportunity to really try and get the best out of themselves. We know the benefits of being full time and having access to great resources, great coaching, and being able to play a lot more cricket as well and hopefully, that continues to evolve over the next few years as well. The Women’s Big Bash League in particular has provided a really nice platform for younger players to be exposed to different scenarios and pressure situations. We've seen with our young kids coming in, Darcie Brown, Tahlia McGrath and others, they don't look overawed by the situation, which I think the WBBL has played a really big role in that. It is a strong domestic competition, and alongside the Women’s National Cricket League, it provides a great opportunity for players to get game time and learn the game, there's no doubt that that certainly helps our national team to be able to perform as we do. We want to win every game that we play, and we were very proud to reach 26 ODIs unbeaten before losing to India, but it's probably not realistic in these times with so many good teams out there to win absolutely every game but it's a good challenge for us. It wasn't a surprise to us that India played so well because they're such a great team, if anything it reinforces the fact that we need to play our best cricket and we need to make sure we're trying to push the game forward to make sure we stay ahead.

Sports Bulletin Report OMAN:-Bowlers dominated the afternoon session of day 3 in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier A, supported by Dream 11, at Al Amerat on Monday aiding Nepal and hosts Oman to advance to the semi-final of the tournament from Group A. Nepal defeated Canada by eight wickets while Oman raced to a nine-wicket win over the Philippines. Having bowled out Canada for 80 in 15 overs, Nepal were never in trouble, chasing down the target in 14.1 overs for the loss of Aasif Sheikh and Kushal Malla’s wickets. Kushal Bhurtel, who became only the third Nepalese batter to score a T20I century on Saturday against the Philippines, stayed unbeaten on 34. Along with Dipendra Singh Airee (27), the side cantered to victory.   Nepal emerged as the Group A topper with a clean slate after recording three successive wins for six points. Oman with two victories finished a runner-up with four. Nepal will take on the Group B runner-up UAE while the hosts will face Group B topper Ireland in the semi-finals, which will be played on Tuesday. Both the matches begin at 14.00 hrs (local time). At Oman Academy 2 ground, Oman missed a chance to script history. They recorded one of the largest margins of victory in a T20 International by bowling out Philippines for 36 in 15.2 overs, their lowest-ever T20 International total, the hosts chased the target in just 2.5 overs, scoring 40-1. The huge win for Oman, with 103 balls remaining was just a ball more than the world record margin achieved by Austria. On 31 August 2019, Austria had defeated Turkey in a T20I match with 104 balls remaining in Ilfov County, Romania. Electing to bat first, Philippines was rocked by the pace attack of – Bilal Khan, Kaleemullah and Fayyaz Butt. Khan gave away just seven runs in his three-over spell on a trot to build the pressure. Kaleemullah and Fayyaz Butt complimented each other as they sent back the top-order by the eighth over. Khawar Ali and Aamir Kaleem then spun a magical web as wickets fell at regular intervals. Philippines, who are making their debut in the global qualifiers, were bowled out for 36 in 15.2 overs. Ali bagged four for 11 in 3.2 overs while Kaleem had figures of 2-1-2-2. Butt and Kaleemullah also bagged a brace each. Oman lost Kashyap Prajapati off the second ball of their innings but with a small total, it turned out to be a stroll in the park for the hosts. Khurram Khan smashed a quick fire 12-ball 33, which included 5 fours and 2 sixes, and along with Jatinder Singh, wrapped up an easy win. Nepal skipper Sandeep Lamichhane led from the front with a three-wicket haul (3-12) to bowl out Canada for 80. Kamal Airee and Abinash Bohara picked two wickets apiece. The Canadian innings were rocked by two run out dismissals with in-form opener Rayyan Pathan triggering a collapse. Three balls after Pathan’s exit, Ravinderpal Singh followed him in the pavilion with the team’s total at 39-4. The Canadian batters were stifled against some accurate bowling and could never recover from the double-wicket loss in the sixth over. A procession continued as the next five batters were dismissed for the addition of just nine runs, which included another run-out dismissal [Saad Zafar]. At 48-9, Canada were in a precarious situation with nearly ten overs remaining. Dilon Heyliger and No 10 Salman Nazar adopted a counter-attack strategy to push the score to take it to 80 with a crucial 32-run stand. Heyliger smashed 2 sixes and a four in his unbeaten 22-ball 24 while Nazar made 10.

Sports Bulletin Report LAHORE:-1992 World Cup winner and former captain Wasim Akram, who took a total of 916 wickets and scored 6,615 runs in an international career from 1984 to 2003, was formally inducted into the PCB Hall of Fame on Sunday. Sir Vivian Richards, one of the all-time greats and an ICC Cricket Hall of Famer, formally inducted Wasim Akram into the exclusive list by presenting him a commemorative cap and plaque before the start of 28th match in the HBL Pakistan Super League between Karachi Kings and Quetta Gladiators. Wasim Akram is one of the eight Pakistan stalwarts who are members of the PCB Hall of Fame. Others are Abdul Qadir, Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Waqar Younis and Zaheer Abbas, who will be formally inducted into the prestigious group in the coming days. Wasim Akram: “I feel privileged to have received this great honour from Sir Vivian Richards, one of the most iconic figures in cricket, and at a venue that remained my home ground during my playing career. I also want to compliment the Pakistan Cricket Board for launching this initiative to recognise and acknowledge the contributions of former cricketers. “It has been an honour to represent Pakistan over 18 years during which I played in 460 international matches. Every wicket and every run I scored in these matches was priceless. I can’t thank God Almighty enough for providing me the opportunity to serve this great country at the highest level. “I want to thank all my fans who have been my greatest strengths. Their support has been invaluable. I also want to thank my family and friends who stood beside me during this incredible journey.” Sir Vivian Richards: “I feel delighted to have been awarded the opportunity to formally induct Wasim Akram into the PCB Hall of Fame. My first encounter with Wasim Akram was in 1985 in Australia and in the twilight of my career, I was happy I would not be facing him much. I clearly remember telling my junior partner that he will cause a lot of problems for his generation of cricketers and Wasim proved me right. “Wasim has been an outstanding cricketer and a great ambassador for our sport.”

After a long wait, the World Cup is finally here. We as a team have been preparing for the last five years, since the 2017 World Cup in England where we fell short in the semi-finals. In our preparation, we have tried many combinations to find the right fit for this World Cup. After many successful and unsuccessful games and series, we are confident that whoever walks out onto the park on the day can do the job for us. We have a strong squad with a combination of experienced players and a couple of players who will be making their World Cup debut. This is very exciting for us as a team. We are coming off an extremely good year, and I know that the teams’ confidence is high. Around the same time in 2020, we played a series against New Zealand on some of the same grounds we will be playing in this tournament and were very successful. I am hoping that the preparation we had on that tour and the knowledge we gained will play a huge role in this tournament. We have also just played the West Indies at home, where we played a couple of games under lights. I think we’re also one of the few teams who has played the most super overs in ODI’s. We couldn’t have asked for better preparation. The most important part for us is to not focus too much on our opposition. Every match will be played like a final, therefore it is imperative that we only focus on what we do best and what we can control. In our previous series, this is what worked best for us. We tried to do the basics as best as we could, and the result took care of itself. It is so easy to get caught up in the hype and excitement of a World Cup, but it is going to be important for us to stay in our little bubble and be focused on our goal. In the past, we have always been seen as the underdogs, but I think we have shown in the past few years that we are a team to be reckoned with. We have shown consistent performances in difficult countries like India and the West Indies. We as a team also had a great T20 World Cup two years ago In Australia and turned some heads. I hope that we do the same this year, and hopefully reach that final that we’ve been missing out on, on three different occasions.

Sports Bulletin Report ISLAMABAD:-Unbeaten half-centuries by Kashyap Prajapati and skipper Zeeshan Maqsood powered hosts Oman to a nine-wicket win over Canada in the Group A match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier A, supported by Dream 11, at the Oman Academy ground in Al Amerat on Saturday. In the second game of the morning session, Nepal strolled to a 136-run win over Philippines to top the group with four points after their back-to-back victories. Canada and Oman have two points each now. Oman’s win helped them bounce back to keep their hopes alive for a spot in the semi-finals. The top-two teams in each group will advance to the knockout round. Chasing a target of 156 to win, hosts lost opening batter Jatinder Singh in the fifth over with the total at 30. Maqsood joined Prajapati in the middle and the pair exhibited some fine strokes all around the park. The duo took the attack to the bowlers to share a 129-run unbroken partnership to secure a comfortable win with 12 balls to spare. Prajapati was unbeaten for 74 off 56 balls. His knock was studded with five boundaries and four sixes. Maqsood displayed more attacking intent to race to his 76 off just 44 balls, with six boundaries and five maximums. Jatinderpal Matharu’s second over cost him 19 runs as Maqsood hammered three fours and a six. Along with Prajapati, the skipper continued the attack as they smashed the bowling attack for a total of 47 runs in just three overs to wrap up the win. Rayyan Pathan and Matharu went for plenty in their spell as they gave away 24 and 23 runs respectively in their two-over spells. Earlier, Ravinderpal Singh anchored Canada’s innings with a partnership with Saad Zafar to guide the team to 83 before Maqsood broke the stand. Canadian opening pair Rayyan Pathan and Matthew Spoors – got off to a bright start. Pathan was in fine form as he found the early boundaries in the Power play but was run out in the fifth over for 26 that included four boundaries. Matthew Spoors, who made century on his T20I debut on Friday, followed his partner in the pavilion soon as Kaleemullah came up with a splendid wicket-maiden sixth over. Canadian skipper Navneet Dhaliwal departed in the next over to leave the side at 43-3. Singh and Zafar revived the innings with a 42-run stand. Oman bowlers restricted their opponents to a 62-3 at the halfway mark. Hamza Tariq and Singh gradually accelerated the run-rate as they took 12 off Syed Aamir Kaleem’s 14th over. Singh finally fell in the 17th over caught brilliantly by Prajapati off Bilal Khan. Dilllon Heylinger struck some hits in the death overs, blasting a six and two successive boundaries in the 18th over to stay unbeaten on 21 off ten balls. Tariq ended Canada’s innings with a six to help the team’s total of 155 for six. Navneet Dhaliwal, Captain Canada said, “Catches win matches is an age-old saying. We dropped some big catches, of their opener [Kashyap Prajapati]. If we had taken those chances, the match could have gone differently. We only have ourselves to blame. I think Oman bowled really well, so credit goes to them. But we were quite happy with the total we put up.” Ahead of their must-win match against Nepal on Monday, Dhaliwal said: “We know it is a big game. The good thing is we are not out of the tournament yet so we will try our best.” Zeeshan Maqsood, Captain Oman said: “We really needed this win, and it was great to achieve it. After Jatinder got out, coach [Duleep Mendis] supported my decision to come out at one down. “The way KP (Kashyap) played was crucial. We were getting runs on both the ends so that put pressure on Canada. I was also happy that we could restrict Canada to 155.  We had a complete performance and the way we won underlines it.” Bhurtel ton in Nepal’s victory Kushal Bhurtel slammed an unbeaten 61-ball century as Nepal defeated the Philippines by 136 runs in the second game at Oman Academy 2 ground on Saturday. Coming out to bat after the Philippines won the toss, Nepal scored 218/3 in their 20 overs. Opener Aasif Sheikh was sent back for a duck in the second over and soon after, Kushal Malla followed. A 171-run fourth-wicket stand between Bhurtel and experienced Dipendra Singh Airee (83 off 47) meant that Philippines went into the break, looking at a target even larger than the 216 that Canada had posed on Friday. Dipendra’s inning included six fours and four sixes while Bhurtel’s inning was studded with 13 boundaries and one maximum. Philippines were then restricted to only 82/8 with contributions from Daniel Smith, Jordan Alegra and captain Jonathan Hull.

The West Indies are heading to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in a good space, the like of which I have not seen for a long time. A lot of that is down to the coaching staff. Courtney Walsh took over as head coach in 2020 and the impact that he and his team have made has been huge. They have been able to teach us things that we were just completely unaware of previously. It makes you wonder what sort of players we could be if we had learned some of these things sooner. What sort of player would I be if I knew at the age of seven or eight, what I know now? I have worked a lot with our batting coach Robert Samuels on trying to avoid slipping in bad habits. I never used to be one to watch videos very much, but now I try to film net sessions to make sure I’m avoiding those old habits. Robert has been working hard on building up our middle order, and I hope that we will be able to show that our depth has improved during the tournament in New Zealand. The aim is to be stronger in that area, and that then relieves the pressure on individual players when they get to the middle. We still have a few players from the 2017 World Cup, and players like Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews are in good form. But there are also a lot of youngsters who we have been able to integrate into the side. For those playing their first World Cup, my advice to them is to enjoy themselves. There will be nerves, there is no way around that, but they just need to enjoy the opportunity. It has not been the easiest build-up for me because I was hit on the head during the series against South Africa. It was the first time I had been hit on the head by a cricket ball, or at all, and I am still recovering from the concussion. Apparently, I was speaking a lot of nonsense after it happened, and light affected my eyes initially, so I spent a lot of time with glasses on. Hopefully, I can be ready for the opening warm-up game down in Christchurch. We start the tournament against New Zealand, so we know that will be a challenge taking them on in their own backyard. But at a World Cup, every game is tricky so we just need to make sure we focus on our strengths. If we are to make the semi-finals, we will need players to step up in the big moments and it cannot just be one or two of them. We need to play well across all three phases. Our fast bowling depth is looking good with Shamilia Connell in good form, and that could be very useful in the conditions over here. We are just really excited to get started because the team is in a really good space.

The Women’s World Cup is a platform where stars are born, and it is the ultimate stage where cricketers of the day can leave ever-lasting legacies. For Pakistan, the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 is an opportunity to leave a mark and break the glass ceiling. We arrive in New Zealand well prepared, with our eyes set on one of the four semi-final spots. We have never made it to the knockouts of any World Cup across the two formats, but that does not mean that that time will never come. With the experience of Javeria Khan, Nida Dar, Diana Baig and Anam Amin; the extraordinary talent of Fatima Sana and Ghulam Fatima; and the grit of Aliya Riaz and Omaima Sohail, this team has all the ingredients to make history in this beautiful country. We have put together a strong squad, which not only covers all bases but also provides the right balance required for a tournament as lengthy and demanding as this World Cup will be. We have a perfect mix of talent and experience in both departments, and a team eager to push the limits and make its fans and supporters proud. Since the last edition in 2017 of the event, our team has had its share of ups and downs. Through sheer hard work, grit and determination, we established ourselves as a force to reckon in the ICC Women’s Championship 2017-20 cycle. We achieved many firsts, thanks to the unrelenting passion of the girls. It was no mean achievement for a side which had finished seventh or second-last in the inaugural edition of the ICC Women’s Championship just two years ago and failed to win a match in the following World Cup to break into the top four of the table, before finishing fifth due to a series cancellation. And that momentum translated in our victory against the West Indies in our ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 opener. The team’s performances, however, since our return to cricket after a covid-induced hiatus have not been up to the mark, There have been some outstanding individual performances. But the overall results have been below par and there is a strong realisation in the camp that the last year does not justify the collective potential and talent of this side. There is an urge to undo the mistakes of the last year in every individual. During our preparations in Karachi in the lead-up to this tournament, every player has put in the hard yards to prepare for the challenges that await us in New Zealand. The World Cup format provides all the sides much-desired exposure and experience as each team is pitted against all the participating sides. With each team playing seven matches, only a side that displays quality cricket on a consistent basis will progress. We will take one match at a time and focus on the task at hand. The challenge to be among the top four sides can overwhelm one, but when that challenge is broken down into small, achievable goals one gets motivated to achieve it. We start our campaign by facing India, which promises to be a great occasion for women’s cricket in the subcontinent. It will surely be an exciting contest. Pakistan v India is a rivalry that attracts record eyeballs across the globe. In our part of the world, it becomes the talk of the town when the two neighbours face off. I am sure millions of girls will tune in to watch this game and will leave inspired to take up the game. I am thrilled to be here in New Zealand, finally, for this World Cup and thank the Pakistan Cricket Board for their support that helped me in returning to the game I love, smoothly. The introduction of the maternal policy has made the game more inclusive for women. It is a great initiative, which will definitely see more girls follow their passion. With my daughter, Fatima, in the picture, I am excited to see how the next couple of months will pan out. Covid has had an impact on women’s game around the world, but this tournament promises a new beginning and comes with a ray of hope of us getting back to normal life. Good luck to all the participants! Here is to making this World Cup a memorable one.