Pakistan Women Cricket Team: Bisma Maroof replaces Sana Mir as ODI skipper
By Muhammad Luqman
In the aftermath of a poor show in the World Cup where Pakistan failed to bag a single win, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made changes in both women team’s leadership and management in a bid to bring in better results.
According to an announcement by Pakistan Cricket Board on Saturday, Sana Mir, who led Pakistan in the mega event in July, has been removed as captain of the ODI squad and has been replaced by Bismah Maroof, who is already the leader of the Twenty20 format. Mir picked up six wickets in their seven outings at the World Cup as their team bowed out without a single win in England. Mir, who is the first Pakistani woman to take 100 wickets in ODIs, will however be available for selection in both formats of the game.
Mir, who led Pakistan to two Gold medals in the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014, is regarded highly for mentoring a lot of youngsters in the country. The offspinning stalwart first assumed the captaincy duties in Women’s World Twenty20 2009 and after the winless campaign in England earlier this year, her leadership came in for scrutiny from within the management. Sabih Azhar, Pakistan’s coach during the World Cup, called the skipper “self-centred and egotistical” and argued that she had a negative impact on both the senior and younger members of the outfit.
Mir, who stepped down from her role as Pakistan’s T20I captain in 2016, had also noted that she didn’t want to continue “with the current set-up of the Women’s Wing in any capacity”. Earlier this week, Mark Coles took over the coaching duties from Azhar ahead of Pakistan’s series against New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates.
Apart from a change in leadership in the 50-over format, PCB has also disbanded their selection committee and the process of electing a new one will be underway soon. The board is also due to name a new general manager of their women’s cricket wing, to replace former GM Shamsa Hashmi.
The Pakistan team will also appoint a new team manager, and until then Ayesha Ashhar will undertake the responsibilities.
PCB Chairman Najam Sethi revealed that the board had spent a lot of time in reviewing the entire structure of women’s cricket in the country and he is hopeful that the changes would help in taking their women’s cricket forward.
“These are well thought out decisions taken after a comprehensive internal review. I am hopeful that we will transform women cricket into a well-knit unit both on field and at the management level. Sana Mir has great contributions towards Pakistan’s Women cricket. She has played an instrumental role for women’s cricket in Pakistan. She has led the team with great respect and had always used her best abilities to serve women’s team.”
