Pakistan name squad for Women’s World Cup

PCB opts to replace head coach Kabir Khan with Sabih Azhar ahead of mega event

KARACHI: Pakistan announced their 15-member squad for this summer’s Women’s World Cup opting to bring in a new head coach just weeks before the start of what is the national team’s biggest assignment of the year.

While the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) retained Sana Mir as the team’s captain for the World Cup to be held in England and Wales from June 24 to July 24, it has decided to replace Kabir Khan with former first-class cricketer Sabih Azhar as the head coach.

The surprise move came just days after the Board ruled out the idea of replacing Kabir Khan as the team’s head coach.

The squad was named in a brief media release issued by the Board on Friday. It didn’t comment on the appointment of a new coach of the national women’s team.

Azhar is the fourth head coach of the women’s team since last year, succeeding Mohtashim Rasheed, Basit Ali and Kabir — the last two being former Test players.

Kabir, according to a PCB source, had submitted his resignation soon after the World Cup qualifiers.

The former Test pacer was not happy with the work ethic of the team and wanted the players to train harder.

Apparently, the players were not happy with the strenuous training they had to undergo under Kabir.

The 55-year-old Azhar has previously worked with the Pakistan under-19 and A teams without much success.

Pakistan made the cut for the mega-event via the qualifying tournament held in Sri Lanka in February. They will take on defending champions Australia and World T20 winners West Indies in warm-up games prior to the commencement of the World Cup.

The Pakistan women’s squad: Sana Mir (captain), Ayesha Zafar, Mariana Iqbal, Bisma Maroof, Javeria Khan, Nain Abidi, Sidra Nawaz, Kainat Imtiaz, Asmavia Iqbal, Diana Baig, Waheeda Akhtar, Nashra Sandhu, Ghulam Fatima and Sadia Yousuf.

Officials: Ayesha Ashhar (Manager), Sabih Azhar (Head Coach), Ibrar Ahmed (Trainer), Muhammad Zubair Ahmad (Video Analyst) and Shahid Anwar (Batting Coach).