File photo of Bismah Maroof© AFP
Former Pakistan women’s cricket team skipper Bismah Maroof decided to opt out of Hangzhou Asian Games because of the event’s rules that do not allow the competing athletes to carry their children. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced Maroof’s decision while naming the 15-player squad for the competition which was picked by a committee comprising of Saleem Jaffar, head coach Mark Coles and captain Nida Dar. “The team is unfortunate to miss out on the services of Bismah Maroof for this event as she would not have been able to accompany her infant daughter to the Games village due to the regulations in place,” Head of Women Cricket, Tania Mallick said.
Pakistan women’s cricket team have won gold medals in the last two editions, held in Guangzhou, China in 2010 and Incheon, South Korea 2014. They will be aiming for a hat-trick when they feature in this year’s event scheduled to take place from September 19 to 26.
The team, as per the ICC T20I rankings and tournament rule, will feature from the quarter-finals scheduled to take place from September 22 to 24. The semi-finals will be played on September 25, while the final will take place on September 26. The Bronze medal match will also take place on 26th.
Earlier, Ayesha Naseem, an 18-year-old Pakistan women’s cricketer, announced retirement from the game due to personal reasons. Ayesha has so far played four ODIs and 30 T20Is. She is a top-order batter, who has scored 369 runs in T20Is at an average of 18.45. In ODIs, she has a tally of 33 runs.
(With ANI inputs)
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