Uncapped players Saira Jabeen and Humna Bilal called up as Pakistan announce women’s squad for SA tour

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday announced the ODI and T20 International squads of the national women’s team for their upcoming white-ball tour of South Africa, scheduled to begin next month.

Fatima Sana will continue to lead Pakistan in both formats as the team looks to build momentum and strengthen combinations ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, set to commence in June this year.

Several experienced players, including Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin and Tasmia Rubab, have been named in both squads. Uncapped batter Saira Jabeen and right-arm fast bowler Humna Bilal have earned their maiden T20I call-ups, highlighting PCB’s focus on expanding the talent pool.

Openers Ayesha Zafar and Gull Feroza, along with left-arm pacer Tasmia Rubab and wicketkeeper-batter Najiha Alvi, have been recalled to the 15-member ODI squad after missing out on selection for the recent World Cup. Diana Baig, Sadaf Shamas and Syeda Aroob Shah have been included in the ODI squad only, while Humna Bilal, Saira Jabeen, Tuba Hassan and Eyman Fatima feature exclusively in the T20 setup.

Pakistan’s tour of South Africa will begin with the T20 series on February 10 in Potchefstroom. Team mentor Wahab Riaz will be assisted by Imran Farhat (batting coach), Umaid Asif (fast bowling coach), Abdur Rehman (spin bowling coach) and Abdul Majeed (fielding coach).

A pre-series training camp is set to commence from Sunday at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi as the team prepares for the challenging tour.