PCB confirms 18-year-old Ayesha Naseem’s retirement; Nida Dar to guide at Asian Games
Explosive Pakistan batter Ayesha Naseem has retired from worldwide cricket and, in consequence, has been unnoticed of the squad for the ladies’s cricket competitors on the upcoming Asian Games, to be performed in China’s Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8.
Naseem’s determination, for “personal reasons”, has been speculated about during the last week however was confirmed by the board in its squad announcement. “We wish the best of luck to Ayesha Naseem in her future endeavours as the PCB understands and respects her decision to quit the game for personal reasons,” Tania Mallick, PCB’s head of girls’s cricket, mentioned in a board assertion.
Naseem, 18, performed 4 ODIs and 30 T20Is – together with the T20 World Cups in 2020 and 2023 – after making her debut in opposition to Thailand in March 2020. She grabbed headlines for her power-hitting abilities down the order and completed her profession with a strike fee of 128.12, the best for a Pakistan batter in T20Is. Her tally of 18 T20I sixes can be solely behind Nida Dar‘s 27 for Pakistan, regardless of Naseem enjoying for under three years as in comparison with Dar’s decade-long profession.
The Asian Games will probably be Dar’s first as full-time captain after Bismah Maroof stepped down from the position following Pakistan’s group-stage exit within the T20 World Cup earlier this yr. Dar, the second-highest wicket-takers in ladies’s T20Is, captained the staff for the primary time in Pakistan’s final recreation of the T20 World Cup in South Africa. Maroof missed out on the occasion due to laws that will not enable her to take her child daughter alongside.
The squad has reaped the advantages of Pakistan’s participation within the Under-19 T20 World Cup earlier this yr. Left-arm spinner Anosha Nasir and batter Shawaal Zulfiqar – each a part of that inaugural U19 ladies’s staff – have been rewarded with maiden nationwide call-ups. The two additionally performed the ladies’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup in June the place Anosha picked up three wickets and Shawaal opened the batting and scored 39 runs in two innings. The captain of the Under-19 facet, the legspin-bowling allrounderSyeda Aroob Shah, additionally returned to the senior facet after three years.
Diana Baig, who missed the T20 World Cup due to a finger harm, returned to the squad to pair up with the spectacular Fatima Sana with the brand new ball. Allrounder Natalia Pervaiz, 27, additionally bought a look-in, having final performed internationals in 2018.
Javeria Khan, Sadia Iqbal, Tuba Hassan, Omaima Sohail, Aiman Anwer and Sidra Nawaz, all a part of the T20 World Cup squad, missed out.
“Our squad for the Asian Games represents the future of women’s cricket in Pakistan,” Saleem Jaffer, PCB ladies’s chief selector, mentioned. “With a mix of emerging talent and seasoned campaigners, I expect the players to do well in the event.”
Pakistan gained the gold medal on the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014, the final two occasions cricket was part of the competitors. This can even be Mark Coles’ first task in his second stint as the top coach of the staff.
Pakistan ladies’s squad for Asian Games: Nida Dar (capt), Aliya Riaz, Anoosha Nasir, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Muneeba Ali, Najiha Alvi, Nashra Sandhu, Nataliya Parveiz, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Ameen, Syeda Aroob Shah, Umm-e-Hani