Pakistan women’s cricket team have been dealt a big blow to title hopes as their captain Bismah Maroof will no longer be a part of the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 tournament after sustaining the injury during her team’s defeat at the hands of England.
Bismah Maroof fractured her thumb while playing a scoop shot off Katherine Brunt’s bowling only to be caught behind after having the delivery hit her hand at before writhing in pain.
Maroof played an important role in team’s eight-wicket win over the West Indies in their first game of the tournament as she was the pick of the batsmen with an unbeaten 38.
Nahida Khan replaces Bismah Maroof in the 15-player squad:
Pakistan named Nahida Khan as the replacement of Maroof in the 15-player squad. It should be noted that Nahida had last played a T20I match in December 2019, when Pakistan locked horns with England in the three-match series in Malaysia.
The right-handed opening batswoman was able to score only 15 runs from three innings. She will be looking to improve her batting if she gets a chance to play in Australia.
The 33-year-old Nahida has however made a good impact in ODIs recently, having scored 230 runs in her last five games, including a fifty against England.
Pakistan are placed fourth in the Group B points table with one win and one defeat in two games, securing two points. They take on South Africa in the next match which will be played on March 1, Sunday in Sydney before playing Thailand in their final group fixture two days later.
Anyway, should they win both matches, the net run rate will likely decide who makes it to the semi-final of the ongoing T20 World Cup.