The ninth International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup begins on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Women’s Cricket World Cup, which is held every two years, has been hosted by Bangladesh this time. However, the World Cup matches will be played in Sharjah and Dubai instead of Sylhet and Dhaka due to recent political changes and lack of infrastructure in Bangladesh.
In view of the unfavorable situation in Bangladesh, ICC had decided to hold the matches at another place two months ago. However, the hosting rights of this women’s world cricket tournament will remain with Bangladesh.
Group position
10 teams have already qualified for the World Cup through qualifying rounds matches, which are divided into two groups.
Group A
This group includes Australia, New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka along with Pakistan.
Group B
This group consists of England, Bangladesh, Scotland, West Indies and South Africa.
There is a clear difference between the two groups. The presence of India and Australia will make the competition very tough for other teams. Australia has been champion for six times so every team will have a tough competition with them.
The most interesting thing in Group A is the presence of the Sri Lankan team, which beat India against expectations in the Asia Cup a few months ago. This win has put Sri Lanka in a much better position.
Sri Lankan captain Chamari Uthapatu has emerged as a dangerous player.
The Indian team is also a strong and organized team. Which team along with Australia become group winners? It will be an interesting contest.
Pakistan will also be struggling for success in team competitions.
Group B looks easy but both England and West Indies are one-time champions. Therefore, their ambitions seem dangerous.
The England team has shown great performance in the last few series so they are sure to reach the semi-finals. But South Africa, who reached the final of the last World Cup, can do anything.
West Indies chances are high because West Indies play traditional aggressive cricket.
According to the tournament format, two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, while the final will be played on October 20 in Dubai.
Huge prize money
The prize money for the Women’s World Cup has been increased by 100 percent and $8 million in prize money will be distributed. The winning team of the finals will receive $2.4 million and the runner-up will receive $1.2 million, while each participating team will receive $67,000.
The ICC has increased the prize money as World Cup broadcast rights were sold at a record price.
Expectations from Pakistan team
Pakistan team is led by Fatima Sana, who has been showing bad performance for a long time.
Nida Dar’s captaincy was replaced after poor results. The head coach of the team is Mohammad Wasim and the fast bowling coach is Junaid Khan.
Earlier, Saleem Jaffer was the head coach and Umar Rashid was the bowling coach, but after a prolonged period of poor performance, the PCB changed the coaching staff. Even the change of coaches could not bring the team on the winning track.
This section contains related reference points (Related Nodes field).
Pakistan have played a three-match series against South Africa before the World Cup, with two defeats putting a damper on their pre-World Cup preparations.
Pakistan team could win only one match but the remaining two matches were one sided.
The main batting burden of the team in the World Cup will be on Muniba Ali and Sidra Amin, who are senior players.
Muniba Ali is the only batsman to score a century, while Sidra is also an experienced batsman.
Gul Feroza is a new but aggressive player, while Nida Dar and Sadaf Shams can also bat better in the middle order.
Alia Riaz’s inclusion in the team is a question mark despite her long playing time and poor performance.
The performances of Tobiah Hasan, Diana Baig and Nasherah Sindhu have also been substandard but the selectors have chosen the same players to show that the women’s team is selected elsewhere.
The ouster of two former captains has also divided the team into groups.
Captain Fatima Sana is a good bowler and also bats when required. Sadia Iqbal, Nida Dar and Fatima Sana will be the main bowlers.
The spin bowling department of the team is somewhat better but due to lack of quality fast bowlers and good batsmen, the team does not look to go beyond the group level.
It will be important for the Pakistan team to perform well against India and Sri Lanka.
Although the Indian team is quite experienced, anything can happen in T20 cricket.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi had changed the coaching staff and the selection committee taking action on the poor performance of Pakistan women in the last several series, but there has been no difference in the quality of the players.
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2024-10-01 02:13:30
