Bismah Maroof retains captaincy; Anam Amin, Omaima Sohail new entrants in PCB women’s central contract list

Image Credits: Twitter/@ICC

Batswoman Bismah Maroof has been retained as the captain of the Pakistan women's cricket team until the end of the 2020-21 season, while left-arm spinner Anam Amin and middle-order batter Omaima Sohail are the new entries in the significantly improved, enhanced and performance-based PCB women’s central contract list for the upcoming year.

The nine central contracts, which will come into effect from July 1, will see a hike of 33 per cent in the monthly retainers of the Category A players. Meanwhile, Pakistani women cricketers in Category B and C will receive 30 and 25 per cent rise, respectively.

Bismah Maroof, Javeria Khan and Diana Baig are the three players to get promotions on the basis of their international performances in the recently-concluded 2019-20 season.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has also introduced a separate emerging contract list as part of their strategy to enhance the profile of women’s cricket, inspire and incentivise aspiring cricketers and bring it at par with men’s cricket.

This nine-player list includes 16-year-old Syeda Aroob Shah, 15-year-old Ayesha Naseem (who made her Pakistan debut in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup this year), 22-year-old Muneeba Ali Siddiqui, Fatima Sana, Kainat Hafeez, Najiha Alvi, Rameen Shamim, Saba Nazir and Sadia Iqbal (who won player-of-the-match award on her T20I debut against Bangladesh in October). 

Reflecting on the same, Urooj Mumtaz, the chair of the national women’s selection committee, congratulated all those players who have received the PCB's central contracts.

“The selection committee had detailed deliberations prior to announcing the central contracts. International performances over the past 12 months, fitness standards and the players’ ability to contribute in both white ball formats were key measures that formed the criteria for the selection," the PCB press release quoted Mumtaz as saying.

“Bismah and Javeria have been promoted to Category A, following leading performances with the bat in the last year. Over the last one year, Bismah scored 213 runs at an average of 42.60 in five ODIs and 236 at 39.33 in T20Is, while Javeria was the highest run-getter for Pakistan in T20Is with 260 runs including three half-centuries.Diana Baig has been promoted to Category B and she joins Aliya Riaz and Sidra Nawaz – both of whom have been retained in this category – as she topped the T20I bowling charts for Pakistan in the last 12 months. Leading the pace bowling attack she has shown tremendous improvement with control over the ball along with being an exceptional fielder," she added.

Mumtaz further said that Sohail has been added to the list for her consistent performance in both limited-overs formats of the game, while Anam has been rewarded fpr her outstanding show with the ball in T20 cricket. Anam is the highest wicket-taker in the domestic and joint-highest in international circuit.

While Bisma Maroof has retained her role as the captain of the Pakistan team, the contract of head coach Iqbal Imam has not been renewed and he will now resume his duties in the high performance set-up.

Congratulating Bismah on retaining her leadership role, Mumraz said that the captain has been a phenomenal performer for the team and always risen to the occassion whenever situation demanded. 

“I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Bismah Maroof on retaining her leadership role in both ODI and T20 formats for the upcoming season. She has been a phenomenal performer and has risen to the occasion whenever the situation demanded. I am confident that she will continue to inspire the national women’s team dressing room and keep our perform
ance chart trending upwards," she said.

Pakistan are scheduled to play in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier and the ICC Women’s T20 Cup in the next 12 months, while the U-19 team of the country will feature in the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.