Fatima Sana upbeat to lead in ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup

Fatima Sana-led Pakistan team will depart later tonight from Karachi for Hong Kong via Dubai to feature in the eight-team ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup.

The T20 tournament will be played from 12 to 21 June at the Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Hong Kong.

Pakistan are slotted in Group A with Hong Kong, India A and Nepal. Pakistan will open their campaign on 13 June with the match against Nepal, after which they play Hong Kong and India A on 15 and 17 June, respectively.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals which will be played on 19 June. The final of the tournament will be held on 21 June.

Before the team’s departure, the 14-member squad along with four reserve players took part in the 15-day camp, which was held at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi.

The players under the supervision of the coaching staff worked on various aspects of T20 cricket including improvised drills, nets sessions and scenario-based matches.

Before the camp, the players also featured for Strikers in the first phase of the Pakistan Cup Women’s Cricket Tournament held in Karachi last month.

Six players apart from captain Fatima Sana have already represented Pakistan women’s team in international cricket.

These include Gull Feroza (2 T20Is), Natalia Parvaiz (3 ODIs, 11 T20Is), Sadaf Shamas (4 ODIs, 2 T20Is), Syeda Aroob Shah (2 ODIs, 5T20Is), Tuba Hassan (1 ODI, 21 T20Is) and Umm-e-Hani (1 ODI).

Other than Aroob, three players – Anoosha Nasir, Eyman Fatima and Shawaal Zulfiqar have represented Pakistan U19 in the inaugural edition of ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in January this year in South Africa.

Speaking ahead of the team’s departure for the Women’s Emerging Asia Cup, Fatima Sana asserted that the squad had a good time preparing in the training camp here and is expecting the players to emulate the same in the tournament.

“Our training camp in Karachi has laid a strong foundation for our journey in the ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup. I expect each player to carry the learnings from the camp and showcase their skills with confidence in the tournament.

“In Group A, we have formidable opponents in Nepal, hosts Hong Kong, and India A. I expect our players to approach each match with determination, resilience, and a never-give-up attitude.”

Squad: Fatima Sana (c), Anoosha Nasir, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Gulrukh, Lubna Behram, Najiha Alvi (wk), Natalia Parvaiz, Sadaf Shamas, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani and Yusra Amir. Reserves: Amber Kainat, Dua Majid, Fatima Khan and Rameen Shamim

Player support personnel: Aisha Jalil (manager), Mohsin Kamal (head coach), Muhammad Kamran Hussain (assistant coach), Muhammad Usman Shahid (analyst) and Rabia Siddiq (physiotherapist).

ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup Pakistan fixtures

13 June v Nepal at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground, Hong Kong, 0600 PKT
15 June v Hong Kong at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground, Hong Kong, 0600 PKT
17 June v India A at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground, Hong Kong, 1030 PKT