Nida Dar-led Pakistan women squad off to New Zealand for limited overs series

Staff Report

KARACHI: Nida Dar-led Pakistan women’s team embarked on their journey to New Zealand on Friday morning. The 17-member squad flew from Karachi to New Zealand via Dubai. The team will feature in a series of three T20Is and three ODIs. The three ODIs are part of the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25. To acclimatise to the conditions, the women’s side will feature in two warm-up matches before the start of the T20I series. The 50-over match will be played against NZXI at Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln on 28 November, while the T20 match against them will be played at the same venue on 30 November. Both matches will be live-streamed on New Zealand YouTube channel and first ball will be bowled at 11am local time. The three-match T20I series will be played on 3, 5 and 9 December in Dunedin and Queenstown, while the ODI series matches will take place from 12 to 18 December in Queenstown and Christchurch.

Before departing for New Zealand, the Pakistan women’s team under the coaching staff led by Mauhtashim Rashid, featured in a four-day training camp in Karachi, where the players took part in net sessions, match scenarios and also played a one-day practice game. At the conclusion of the camp, Nida Dar while addressing the media said, “We have some very talented young players in the squad for the series against New Zealand, including the comeback of Fatima Sana and Shawaal Zulfiqar. Umm-e-Hani is also a young bright prospect, we are working and building the right combination and also working on increasing the pool of players. The players have performed well in the South Africa series at home, and our two players Nashra Sundhu and Sadia Iqbal are among the top 10 in the ICC T20I bowlers’ rankings. I have full trust in the capabilities of these players, and I believe they will make a strong comeback in the series against New Zealand. We are striving for squad depth by ensuring a combination of eight to 10 fast bowlers and batters. This will provide us with a strong pool for two quality T20 teams, including U19 and Emerging teams.”

Pakistan squad: Nida Dar (captain), Aliya Riaz, Bismah Maroof, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Muneeba Ali (wk), Najiha Alvi (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Umm-e-Hani and Waheeda Akhtar.

Player support personnel: Nahida Khan (manager), Mauhtashim Rashid (interim head coach), Saleem Jaffar (bowling coach), Taufeeq Umar (batting coach), Muhammad Asfand Yar (strength and conditioning coach), Syed Nazir Ahmed (media manager), Rifat Asghar Gill (physiotherapist) and Zubair Ahmed (analyst).

Series schedule:

Nov 28– 50-over warm-up match v NZXI, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln University (11am local time)

Nov 30 – T20 warm-up match v NZXI, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln University (11am local time)

Dec 3– 1st T20I, Dunedin (1pm local time)

Dec 5– 2nd T20I, Dunedin (1pm local time)

Dec 9– 3rd T20I, Queenstown (1pm local time)

Dec 12– 1st ODI, Queenstown (11am local time) (ICC Women’s Championship)

Dec 15– 2nd ODI, Christchurch (2pm local time) (ICC Women’s Championship)

Dec 18– 3rd ODI, Christchurch (2pm local time) (ICC Women’s Championship).