Veteran cricketer and Pakistan women’s national team captain, Sana Mir has been left out from the Women T20 World Cup squad. Ayesha Naseem has earned her maiden call-up, while Muneeba Ali and Aiman Anwar have also been recalled.
The all-rounder, Sana Mir announced that she will be taking an “indefinite break” from all international cricket in November 2019. Bismah Maroof will be leading Pakistan’s 15-men squad in the Women’s T20 World Cup which will be played in Australia later this year.
Chair of national women’s selection committee Urooj Mumtaz said in a statement that Mir’s recent performances in the T20 format have not been up to the mark. She said: “Sana has been a phenomenal servant of Pakistan cricket while being an inspiration to many girls out there. Unfortunately, her recent performances in the T20 format were not on her side.
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“Jotting down the squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup was a tough task as many players had staked a claim in the side. Though the players who have been left out will be disappointed and heart-broken, this, however, should act as a motivation for them to comeback more strongly. On the other side of the coin, the selection of 15-year-old Ayesha and 16-year-old Aroob Shah should be a motivation and message for all the budding youngsters,
“Though Sana Mir doesn’t feature in the 15-player line-up, I believe we still have the desired experience in the squad. Sana has been a phenomenal servant of Pakistan cricket while being an inspiration to many girls out there. Unfortunately, her recent performances in the T20 format were not on her side,” She said.
Bismah Maroof has said that she would have liked Mir to be a part of the women T20 World Cup squad. She said: “It was a tough decision to leave out Sana Mir,” Maroof said. “I wanted to have her in the squad over which I, along with the selection committee, had deep deliberations. We had to decide between her and the emerging players who had been impressing on all the stages.”
Pakistan squad:
Bismah Maroof (C), Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali, Ayesha Naseem, Umaima Sohail, Nida Dar, Iram Javed, Aliya Riaz, Sidra Nawaz (WK), Diana Baig, Aiman Anwar, Anam Amin, Fatima Sana, Sadia Iqbal, Aroob Shah
