KARACHI: The newly appointed head coach of Pakistan women’s head coach Muhammad Wasim has set his sights on kicking off the ACC Asia Cup 2024 campaign with a victory over arch-rivals India.
Waseem was appointed for the role last month along with former Test bowlers Abdur Rehman and Junaid Khan as the spin bowling and assistant coaches, respectively.
He addressed his first press conference as the head coach of the Pakistan women’s team in the National Bank Stadium and expressed excitement about taking up his new role.
“It will be my first experience with the Pakistan Women’s team, there is a new challenge for the coaching staff,” said Waseem.
He supervised a training camp for the Pakistan women’s cricket team at the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre in Karachi for the preparation of the Asia Cup 2024, which ended today.
“We have worked out various strategic plans during the training camp. But we need to steer in a better direction,” he added.
“We attempted to change the players’ mindset and also worked on improving their fitness levels. I am satisfied with the fitness and fielding standards of our team.”
The former batter also shared that women cricketers also shoulder similar expectations as their male counterparts. He also demanded all required facilities for the women’s team in the camp.
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“In order to take women’s cricket forward, major steps have to be taken. In domestic cricket, players should be given a maximum number of matches,” he further stated.
Waseem also shared that he, along with his fellow coaches, is trying to groom a new captain for the women’s team.
“We are working on grooming the new captain. I don’t believe that only a senior player should be made captain,” he said.
Upon being asked about the preparations for the Asia Cup, the head coach opened up about making plans for each team in the tournament.
“Homework has been completed for every team including India. We have monitored the performance of Nepal and UAE as well,” Waseem said.
“We are not taking any team lightly. We are aiming to commence the Asia Cup campaign with the win against India,” he concluded.
Nida Dar-led Pakistan team will depart for Colombo from Karachi to partake in the Asia Cu. They will play their first match against India on 19 July.
Pakistan squad for ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup
Nida Dar (c), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Muneeba Ali, Najiha Alvi, Nashra Sundhu, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tasmia Rubab and Tuba Hassan
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