Aliya wants to do well with bat too

KARACHI: Pakistan all-rounder Aliya Riaz has identified her power-hitting game as one of the target areas at the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

Aliya, who made her Twenty20 International debut in 2014, has represented Pakistan in 38 matches, scoring 370 runs and picking up 15 wickets. She is known for her hard-hitting batting and is an integral part of Pakistan’s limited-overs sides.

The 27-year-old will be playing her second T20 World Cup. She featured in the previous edition in 2018 and was Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker, with six scalps. She did not have a great tournament with the bat, however, something she wants to correct this time around.

“I am an all-rounder. I want to do well with bat and ball for my team and that’s my target in the World Cup,” Aliya told Geo TV. “Maybe that can also help me achieve a record of quickest fifty or a quickest hundred, but more than that, I want to bat with higher strike rate every time I am in middle for my team.

“We are working hard on power hitting and practicing on cement wickets as well to improve our power hitting.”

Pakistan failed to qualify for the knock-outs last time, after winning only one out of their four group-stage matches. While they won their T20I series against Bangladesh in October last year, they were comprehensively beaten by England in the limited-overs series in December.

Aliya Riaz With the T20 World Cup less than a month away, the players are hard at work and are currently participating in an eight-day camp at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi.

“I am excited about the World Cup. I have experience of playing a World Cup in the past and I will try to use my experience and apply what I’ve learned from my past participation to do well for the country,” Aliya said.

“We have practiced well in the camp, keeping in view the possible conditions there.

“Fast bowling department has become competitive. Saleem Jaffer is working hard with us to improve our bowling skills. We used to lack in the fielding department previously, but now we have improved a lot.

“Another problem faced by us was sudden batting collapse after a good start, and I can tell you that we have also worked to overcome that issue.”

Pakistan are grouped with West Indies, England, South Africa and Thailand for the World Cup. They will play two warm-up games, with India and Bangladesh, before starting their campaign against West Indies on February 26 in Canber-ra.