Anam raring to go against West Indies

LAHORE: Pakistan’s Anam Amin has said she is looking forward to making an impression during the tour to the West Indies.

“West Indies are a quality international side and playing against them is always challenging. I have always enjoyed the challenge,” she told pcb.com.pk. “This will be the first time our team will play in Antigua and this brings me an opportunity to leave a mark there,” she added.

Anam made her debut for Pakistan in T20Is in 2014 and has been a regular feature in the national side because of her exploits with the ball.

“My strength is bowling dots upfront,” said Anam, who is 9th in the ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings. “The key is bowling with accuracy and keep the batter guessing. The new ball turns and skids so there is a lot of reward for hitting the right lines and lengths. I make sure that I continue to target my areas on the pitch and mix up my spells with variations here and there to make sure that the batter does not settle,” she said.

The two sides last met in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia in what was Pakistan’s tournament opener. The national side won that contest comfortably thanks to a team effort which saw the bowlers restrict West Indies to 124 for seven and chase it down with ease with eight wickets and 10 balls to spare.

Anam, brought into the attack to deliver her final over, provided the crucial breakthrough with the wicket of wicketkeeper-batter Shemaine Campbelle on the first ball. That lbw put an end to a 63-run partnership between the top scorers of the match Stafanie Taylor, the West Indies skipper, and Campbelle and sparked a middle-order collapse which reduced the opposition from 91 for three to 123 for seven.

“This tour will play a crucial role in our preparations for three major events – ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers, ICC Women’s World Cup and Commonwealth Games 2020 – in which we have to participate in the next year.

“I have been working on my skills under (bowling coach) Arshad Khan and his mentorship has certainly helped me better my skills. It is indeed a great pleasure to have a Test cricketer as a coach. I am really excited to go out there and perform for my team,” she said.