LAHORE: Pakistan international and Sindh’s Aroob Shah will lead the national team in the inaugural ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, as a 15-member squad and five reserve players were announced by selector Asmavia Iqbal on Wednesday.

These players were selected after their performance in this year’s Women U-19 T20 Tournament held at the Lahore Country Club in Muridke from August 13 to 22. Later, the top performers of the six-team tournament had undergone two skills and training camps staged at the Inzamam-ul-Haq High Performance Centre, Multan in September and at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre, Karachi in November.

The ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup will be played from January 14 to 29, 2023 in South Africa.

Aroob Shah, who has featured for Pakistan in two ODIs and five T20Is, will have the services of hard hitting right-handed batters Eyman Fatima and Shawaal Zulfiqar. Besides the duo, Aroob who herself is a leg-spinner, will have promising spinners in the likes of Rida Aslam (left-arm spinner), Quratulain Ahsen (leg-spinner), Anosha Nasir (off-spinner) and Mahnoor Aftab (off-spinner). The squad also includes four fast bowlers, Areesha Noor, Haleema Azeem Dar, Haniah Ahmer and Zaib-un-Nisa.

Chief Selector Asmavia Iqbal said, “I remain confident that this side has the capability and potential to do well in the mega event. These players were selected after a rigorous and robust process and I want to congratulate the coaches who have worked tirelessly hard on the skills of the players to get them ready for the event. The tournament will also help us to increase our pool of players which will ultimately help in forming a strong and more competitive squad at the senior level.”

Squad:

Aroob Shah (Captain), Aliza Khan, Anosha Nasir, Areesha Noor, Eyman Fatima, Haleema Azeem Dar, Haniah Ahmer, Laiba Nasir, Mahnoor Aftab, Quratulain Ahsen, Rida Aslam, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Warda Yousaf, Zaib-un-Nisa and Zamina Tahir.

Reserves: Aqsa Yousaf, Dina Razvi, Maham Anees, Muskan Abid and Tahzeeb Shah.

Support staff: Aisha Jalil (Manager), Mohsin Kamal (Head coach), Muhammad Kamran Hussain (Assistant coach), Saboor Ahmad (Strength and Conditioning coach), Muhammad Usman Shahid (Analyst), Rabia Siddiq (Physiotherapist) and Dr Hafiz Salman Asif (Team Doctor).

Schedule: 15th January – vs Rwanda, Potchefstroom, 17th January – vs England, Potchefstroom, 19th January – vs Zimbabwe, Potchefstroom

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