Women players begin preparations for Asia Cup

LAHORE: Twenty-five cricketers assembled here for a four-day training camp in Lahore from August 30 as the national women’s side begins preparations for the ACC Women’s Asia Cup.

These 25 players include Shawal Zulfiqar and Aroob Shah who gave outstanding performances in the recently concluded Women Under-19 T20 Tournament.

Shawal led Central Punjab to the title and was the leading run-getter in the tournament.

Aroob, who has already featured for Pakistan in international cricket, led Sindh to the final and was the joint highest wicket-taker with nine scalps.

This is the first phase of the two-phased training camp.

The second phase will run from September 18 to 28 at Lahore Country Club, Murdike, in which the players selected for the Asia Cup will feature.

The players underwnt skills session on Tuesday at the National High Performance Centre. They will play T20 practice matches on Wednesday (today), Thursday and Friday at the LCCA ground.

On the basis of their performances in these three practice matches, national women’s selector, Asmavia Iqbal, will finalise the side for the Asia Cup, the schedule and venue for which will be confirmed by the event organisers.

Players invited for the camp: Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Aroob Shah, Ayesha Naseem, Bismah Maroof, Diana Baig, Ghulam Fatima, Gul Feroza, Iram Javed, Kainat Imtiaz, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sandhu, Natalia Pervaiz, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Rameen Shamim, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Shawal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Tuba Hasan, Umme Hani and Waheeda Akhtar.