By NP Sports
LAHORE: Pakistan’s women’s cricket team captain Sana Mir has been removed from her job and will be replaced by Bismah Maroof, a decision that is part of the PCB’s revamp of its women’s cricket set-up following the team’s poor performance at the World Cup in June. Shamsa Hashmi has been dismissed as general manager of the women’s wing, and the selection committee led by Mohammad Ilyas, has also been disbanded.
Team Manager Ayesha Ashar’s role has also been changed.
Bisma Maroof will now lead the side in both limited-overs formats. She was made captain of the T20 side in June last year. Sana will still be considered for selection as a player.
Pakistan finished at the bottom of the Women’s World Cup, losing all seven matches, after which problems between Mir and the team management surfaced. The team’s coach Sabih Azhar called Sana “self-centred, egotistical and being wrapped up in oneself”, before Sana responded by saying she would not continue with the current set-up.
Earlier this week, Sana refused to attend a training and fitness camp before a series against New Zealand “unless crucial issues regarding women’s cricket were addressed” by the PCB. Reports say Sana had differences with with the general manager of the women’s wing.
The PCB said the revamp was undertaken after assessing reports of the World Cup and a comprehensive internal review.
PCB Chairman Najam Sethi said these decisions had been taken to address the decline in the women’s team. He said they were well thought-out decisions taken after a comprehensive internal review which he hoped would “transform women’s cricket” into a well-knit unit both on the field and at the management level.
“Sana Mir has made great contributions towards Pakistani women’s cricket. She has led the team with great respect and has always used her best abilities to serve the women’s team,” Sethi praised Sana.
The PCB will seek fresh applications for the general manager’s post to succeed Hashmi, a veteran administrator, who has been at the helm of women’s cricket in the PCB since 2015. Until that appointment, Ayesha, who was the team’s manager since 2009, will take temporary charge of the wing’s day-to-day affairs. A new selection committee will be appointed next month to replace the panel led by Ilyas, which had also included former women’s captain Urooj Mumtaz and former Test batsman Nadeem Abbasi.
The PCB’s move to bring in a foreign coach is seen as a trial revamp. The three-ODI series between Pakistan and New Zealand – scheduled between October 31 and November 5 – is part of the four-year ICC Women’s Championship to determine qualification for the 2021 World Cup. The ODIs will be followed by four T20Is, starting from November 8. All matches will be played in Sharjah and the series will be considered a home series for Pakistan.
