Pakistan Women’s team pumped up for busy cricket season

Pakistan Women’s cricket team expressed their excitement as their 10-day training camp concluded in Karachi ahead of the busy season starting later this month with Sri Lanka series.

During the camp, they worked on their fitness, batting, bowling and fielding drills to meet the standards of international cricket.

Head Coach David Hemp, in a brief talk on the sidelines, was optimistic to perform well in the upcoming season after a below-par world cup.

“We have a busy schedule ahead,” said David Ham, who joined the team in October 2020. “We are planning to go series by series and hopefully we will have some good results.”

Pakistan are gearing up for an action-packed bumper season in which they will play, at least, 25 matches with the schedules for the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup and ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to be announced.

Their season begins by hosting Sri Lanka in Karachi for three T20Is and three ODIs in what will be the first instance of ICC Women’s Championship matches being staged in Pakistan.

Speaking about the series, the ICC Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the Year recipient Fatima Sana said that they have enough time to prepare for Sri Lanka.

“Girls have been working hard in the camp for the past few days, however, I joined the camp recently, but hopefully will get into the groove,” said Fatima, who returned from the United Arab Emirates after participating in the Fair Break tournament.

Moreover, she believed that Pakistan Women are still lacking on the fitness end as compared to their competitors.

“The major difference I felt playing there was the fitness,” she said. “I think we need to up our game in order to challenge them in world cricket.”

Meanwhile, all-rounder Omaima Sohail, speaking to SAMAA Digital exclusively, termed the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka important to prepare for upcoming foreign tours including Commonwealth Games.

“We made some mistakes in the World Cup, which we tried to rectify in this came,” she said. “The Sri Lanka series is important as we are preparing for the big event [Commonwealth Games].”

Commenting on the inclusion of cricket in the games, she said that it is a good sign for the game. “It is a huge sporting event, as many nations will compete in the games. We will try to leave a positive impact in the game.”

Bismah’s team will then head for Belfast to play hosts Ireland and champions Australia in a T20I triangular series from 12-24 July before they move to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games to be held from 25 July to 8 August.

In October, Ireland women will make their first-ever visit to Pakistan for three T20Is and as many ODIs, also ICC Women’s Championship matches, after which they will feature in ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup. They then travel to Australia for three T20Is and three ODIs, Pakistan’s first away ICC Women’s Championship fixtures of the cycle, at the start of 2023 and play ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in February in South Africa.