Pakistan women’s cricket captain Fatima Sana on Sunday said that her team will look to continue their winning momentum on the upcoming Ireland tour.
On Wednesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board named the squads, with Fatima continuing to lead the team, as the national selection committee named a 15-member squad for the forthcoming T20 International series in Ireland.
The three-match T20 series against Ireland will be played at the Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin from August 6 to 10.
In their last encounter in April, Pakistan women defeated Ireland by 38 runs in a low-scoring thriller to win the opening One-Day International (ODI) encounter of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 Qualifiers. Led by Fatima, Pakistan subsequently qualified for the World Cup after winning the tournament unbeaten, which was held in Lahore earlier this year
Responding to a question by Dawn.com at the National Stadium in Karachi, Fatima said, “Despite the difference in conditions, batters are confident and since our Qualifiers went well, we are going into the series with confidence.
“We are looking to continue that momentum and looking forward to do well — along with developing the T20I side as well.”
She also spoke about how she tries to contribute to the team in any domain, whether batting, bowling or fielding, adding, “I’ve been trying to improve my batting and play a role in the team’s victory in any aspect that I can.”
Top-order batter Muneeba Ali, speaking on the team’s batting performance, said: “Despite the difference in formats between the Irish tour and the World Cup, we are looking to focus on T20Is and work on 50-over format game alongside as well.”
The Southpaw opener added, “We have identified where we were lacking in the Qualifiers tournament, and have tried to overcome that [during the training camp] and build upon the positives from that tournament.”
On Saturday, the first phase of preparations for the Pakistan team’s tour to Ireland concluded in Karachi.
The 27-day camp, which started on July 7, was being conducted at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre and the Oval Ground, with an emphasis on refining skills and improving fitness levels ahead of the upcoming tour.
A separate training camp for the 15-member squad will be held from July 28 to August 2, with the team leaving for Ireland on Aug 3.
Before participating in the 50-over ICC Women’s World Cup in September, Pakistan will play one series consisting of three matches against South Africa in Lahore from Sept 16 to 22.
The World Cup is scheduled to be held in India from Sept 30 to Nov 2, but Pakistan will play their matches of the global event in Sri Lanka under the hybrid model, according to which neither India nor Pakistan will visit each other’s venues due to political strains between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Pakistan’s highly anticipated clash with arch-rivals India is scheduled for October 5, followed by encounters against defending champions Australia on October 8 and 2017 champions England on October 15.
The national side will then face New Zealand (October 18), South Africa (October 21), and co-hosts Sri Lanka (October 24) to conclude their round-robin stage.
