PCB recalls Muneeba, Aimen, drops Sana

Muneeba Ali and Aimen Anwar have been recalled in the 15-player squad while left out Sana Mir for the ICC Women’s Twenty20 World Cup to be held in Australia from February 21 to March 8.

According to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman here on Monday, uncapped Ayesha Naseem has also been named in the squad. The trio has replaced Nahida Khan, Ayesha Zafar and Rameen Shamim in the T20I squad, which lost 3-0 to England in Kuala Lumpur last month. The average age of the side is 24.8, which also indicates the selectors’ vision and future planning.

Muneeba, who last turned out for Pakistan in November 2018, has been recalled at the back of a prolific National Triangular T20 Women’s Cricket Championship, in which she scored 292 runs at a staggering average of 58.40.

Ayesha has been inducted in the line-up for her hard-hitting abilities at the top of the order. The 15-year-old righthanded batter from Abbottabad scored 64 runs at a strike-rate of over 206. Aimen, the right-arm medium-fast, took four wickets in five matches, bowling at an economy rate of 7.68. She last played a T20I in February 2019 against the West Indies women in Karachi.

Pakistan women would depart for Australia on January 31 and will play three warm-up matches against the West Indies on February 7, 9 and 11. Prior to their departure, the team would have an eight-day camp from January 23 to 30 at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre, Karachi.

Chair of national women’s selection committee Urooj Mumtaz said the selection of 15-year-old Ayesha and 16year-old Aroob Shah should be a motivation and message for all the budding youngsters. “The team has been selected keeping in mind the current form and performances along with the conditions in Australia,” she said. Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof said: “We have tried to strike the right balance of youth and senior players.