Fatima Sana-led Pakistan team will depart later tonight from Karachi for Hong Kong via Dubai to feature in the eight-team ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup. The T20 tournament will be played from 12 to 21 June at the Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Hong Kong.
Pakistan are slotted in Group A with Hong Kong, India A and Nepal. Pakistan will open their campaign on 13 June with the match against Nepal, after which they play Hong Kong and India A on 15 and 17 June, respectively. Top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals which will be played on 19 June. The final of the tournament will be held on 21 June.
Before team’s departure, the 14-member squad along with four reserves players took part in the 15-day camp, which was held at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi. The players under the supervision of coaching staff worked on various aspects of T20 cricket including improvised drills, nets sessions and scenario-based matches.
Before the camp, the players also featured for Strikers in the first phase of Pakistan Cup Women’s Cricket Tournament held in Karachi last month.
Six players apart from captain Fatima Sana have already represented Pakistan women’s team in in-ternational cricket. These include Gull Feroza (2 T20Is), Natalia Parvaiz (3 ODIs, 11 T20Is), Sadaf Shamas (4 ODIs, 2 T20Is), Syeda Aroob Shah (2 ODIs, 5T20Is), Tuba Hassan (1 ODI, 21 T20Is) and Umm-e-Hani (1 ODI).—APP
