Pakistan international and Sindh’s Aroob Shah will lead Pakistan in the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup which will be played from 14 to 29 January 2023 in South Africa.
Asmavia Iqbal, a women’s selector, revealed a 15-player squad along with five reserves. These athletes were selected based on their results in this year’s Women U19 T20 Tournament, which took place from August 13 to August 22 at Lahore Country Club in Muridke.
Later, two skills and training camps were held for the top players of the six-team tournament at the Inzamam-ul-Haq High-Performance Centre in Multan in September and the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre in Karachi in November.
The U19 players had also competed in the first stage of the T20 Women’s Cricket Tournament, which was held at Lahore’s LCCA Ground from November 26 to December 2 in order to further evaluate their health and abilities. The athletes belonged to Team Conquerors, one of the three competing teams in the competition.
Aroob Shah, who has featured for Pakistan in two ODIs and five T20Is, will have the services of hard-hitting right-handed batters Eyman Fatima and Shawaal Zulfiqar.
Besides the duo, Aroob who herself is a leg-spinner will have promising spinners in the likes of Rida Aslam (left-arm spinner), Quratulain Ahsen (leg-spinner), Anosha Nasir (off-spinner) and Mahnoor Aftab (off-spinner). The squad also includes four fast bowlers in Areesha Noor, Haleema Azeem Dar, Haniah Ahmer and Zaib-un-Nisa.
As per the ICC’s eligibility criteria for the event, players born on or after 1 September, 2003 have been selected.
Chief Selector Asmavia Iqbal: “I want to congratulate the 15 players who have made it into the squad for the inaugural U19 event. I remain confident that this side has the capability and potential to do well in the mega event. These players were selected after a rigorous and robust process and I want to congratulate the coaches who have worked tirelessly hard on the skills of the players to get them ready for the event.
