- Marina Iqbal, Sana Mir and Urooj Mumtaz’s video interview available here
- Tickets for HBL PSL 8 matches on 8, 10 and 11 March in Rawalpindi will be valid for the women’s fixtures
- Captains’ photo-shoot and pre-series pressers will be held at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Monday at 5.15pm
- Matches will start at 2pm and will be live-streamed on PCB and PSL YouTube Channels; PCB will provide action images and match reports
- Series hashtag is #LevelPlayingField
Rawalpindi, 5 March 2023: The three Women’s League exhibition matches are all set to take place at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on 8, 10 and 11 March with 10 foreign players from seven countries to feature in the T20 matches. The women’s matches will start at 2pm and will be followed by the men’s matches at 7pm.
Bismah Maroof will captain Amazons, which include Ireland’s Laura Delany, England’s trio of Danni Wyatt, Maia Bouchier and Tammy Beaumont, and Australia’s Tess Flintoff. Nida Dar will lead the Super Women, which will also comprise Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu, Lauren Winfield-Hill of England, Jahanara Alam of Bangladesh, South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Lea Tahuhu of New Zealand.
Former Pakistan captains Sana Mir and Urooj Mumtaz and former international player Marina Iqbal, who are all part of the commentary panel for the HBL PSL 8, expressed their delight on the hosting of the women’s exhibition matches next week in Rawalpindi.
Marina Iqbal, who represented Pakistan in 78 matches, said: “The hosting of exhibition matches is a step forward in the growth of women’s cricket. The matches provide a huge opportunity to the emerging players to share the dressing room with international stars. When we used to play, we always looked forward to such opportunities, meeting with the stars, interacting with them and asking them about their skills and fitness.
“It is an opportunity for budding cricketers to play alongside top cricketers, learn from them, compete with them and also see where they stand in the game.”
Sana Mir, who represented Pakistan in 226 international matches, said: “I am really excited as this is the first time exhibition matches are taking place for the women’s league. This will provide an opportunity to the women cricketers to come forward and showcase their skills.
“These exhibition matches are very important for the local players to know and understand the requirements of the modern day cricket, what international players are doing, how they can improve their skill-set and how they can perform in the pressure situations.
“The league at home will not only help players to improve their game, but it also gives them a chance to get selected in foreign leagues.”
Urooj Mumtaz, who played for Pakistan in 48 international matches from 2004 to 2010, said: “These exhibition matches taking place alongside HBL PSL 8 is a huge thing, it will increase the viewership and attracts the younger audience to come forward and adopt this game, boosting women’s cricket.
“The cricketers playing in the league have a great opportunity to inspire young women not just pick this game but pick up any other sport because cricket is playing a huge role for other sports in Pakistan.
“I will urge the people in Pindi to come and support women’s cricket and enjoy the level of women’s cricket which has gone up in this country after a time.
Squads:
Amazons - Bismah Maroof (captain), Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Areesha Noor, Danni Wyatt (England), Eyman Fatima, Fatima Khan, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Gull Feroza, Kainat Imtiaz, Laura Delany (Ireland), Maia Bouchier (England), Nashra Sundhu, Sadaf Shamas, Sidra Nawaz, Tammy Beaumont (England) and Tess Flintoff (Australia)
Super Women - Nida Dar (captain) Aimen Anwar, Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka), Iram Javed, Jahanara Alam (Bangladesh), Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa), Lauren Winfield-Hill (England), Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand), Muneeba Ali, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah, Syeda Masooma Zahra, Tuba Hassan and Umm-e-Hani
Schedule:
8 Mar – 1st match, 2pm, Pindi Cricket Stadium. Shozab Raza and Saleema Imtiaz (on-field umpires), Tariq Rasheed (third umpire) and Humaira Farah fourth umpire. Mohammad Anees (match referee)
10 Mar – 2nd match, 2pm, Pindi Cricket Stadium. Shozab Raza and Humaira Farah (on-field umpires), Tariq Rasheed (third umpire) and Saleema Imtiaz (fourth umpire). Mohammad Anees (match referee)
11 Mar – 3rd match, 2pm. Tariq Rasheed and Saleema Imtiaz (on-field umpires), Shozab Raza (third umpire) and Humaira Farah (fourth umpire). Mohammad Anees (match referee)
Previous Women’s League media releases:
2 March - PCB releases Women's League exhibition matches details
4 March - 10 foreign players from seven countries named in squads for women's matches
