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Following their repeated failure to advance past the group stage of the T20 World Cup, Pakistan is set to look for new hitting talent. Their elimination was verified following their dismissal for 56 by New Zealand, which continued their unsatisfactory performance at the tournament.
After the final group-stage game, their coach, Mohammed Wasim, stated, “I think it’s about time we move forward. Our problem area is batting, our line-up.” “This club needs to think differently, particularly when it comes to hitting.
“We have seen glimpses of that but we haven’t seen it consistently. If we talk about the next World Cup, we will have to go for fresh blood, and we will have to do some new inductions in the team. The seniors in the team have to step up. Unfortunately, the seniors have not stepped up in the crunch batting moments. So that’s why I said that we need to move on and bring some new faces.”
The positions of Iram Javed and Sidra Amin, as well as former captain Nida Dar, who was replaced by Fatima Sana six weeks prior to the competition, could be in jeopardy. Dar did not score more than thirty runs in any of her innings while batting at No. 5 in the first two games, No. 4 in the third, and No. 7 in the final one.
She hasn’t hit a half-century since November 2022 and her last 30-plus score was against South Africa in September 2023. Javed had five ducks in her past 10 T20I innings, whereas Amin recorded a best score of 12 throughout the competition and has one score over 30 in her last 12 T20Is.
While Wasim values the experience these players bring to a team, he also wants them to contribute more. “Consistency is the key for everything, to be honest,” he said. “But when you talk about consistency, then there’s a limit also. There’s a limit for the players also. We have changed many coaches. We have changed most of the staff. But it’s about time we need to look at the player side also.”
Given that Pakistan has just held an Under-19 tournament and is currently hosting another, he proposed that the country consider using its age-group institutions as a springboard for developing potential.
“If you look at this year’s domestic cricket schedule, you will see that women’s cricket is getting more importance than before,” he said. “There are U-19 matches starting, then there will be matches for seniors and different formats. So I hope we will get talent in the future. This is not an excuse that you have no talent, so carry on with the same thing.
“When results are not coming, then you see what other options you have. It’s not that we don’t have talent. We are doing domestic; we will closely watch what replacements we have. Because we have time before the next event.”
The ODI World Cup in India is the next event, and it takes place in exactly one year. Pakistan is currently ranked seventh in the Women’s Championship ranking and did not automatically qualify. The top five teams including hosts India are assured of a spot. Pakistan has to place in the top two of a six-team qualifying tournament to guarantee their place in the World Cup for the fifth time in a row, as they have already played all of their matches.