Karachi
Pakistan’s women’s cricket team captain Fatima Sanaa wants to become ‘Captain Cool’ like Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has described Australia and India as a strong contender to reach the semi -finals for the ODI World Cup, which is going to start from the end of this month. Fatima Sana, who is going to captain Pakistan in the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup at the age of twenty -three, takes inspiration from India’s World Cup winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. She also aspires to become ‘Captain Cool’ just like them. The Pakistani team, which is unbeatable among the qualifiers in April, will begin their campaign in the ODI World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka from 30 September to 2 November against Bangladesh in Colombo on October 2.
Fatima said in an interview to the language from Lahore, “It is bound to be a little nervous in the beginning of captaincy in a big tournament like World Cup but I take inspiration from Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain.” She said, “I have seen the matches of his India and also IPL matches. The way he takes decisions on the field, remains calm and supports his players, he gets to learn a lot. When I got the captaincy, I thought I had to be like Dhoni. Seeing his interviews too, I got to learn a lot. ”
Pakistan’s team has played five times in the Women’s ODI World Cup five times (1997, 2009, 2017 and 2022) but could not win a single match in 1997, 2013 and 2017. The last time in 2022 won the only win against the West Indies in Hamilton but the team finished last after losing all the matches. All -round Fatima, who scored 397 runs in 34 ODIs for Pakistan and taking 45 wickets, is sure that this time this myth will break because young players know that their performance will determine the female cricket in the country.
He said, “This time this myth will break this time because young players know how important this tournament is for Pakistan women cricket. We will not think about the past. My goal is to take the team to the semi -finals. “He said,” Girls in Pakistan are now playing cricket in schools and international matches are being shown live. The ICC has also taken a very good initiative by increasing the award amount for the Women’s World Cup, which will benefit women’s cricket in a country like Pakistan. But there is still a barrier that we have to break through this tournament. ”
He said, “Women’s cricket in Pakistan is not seen as a career option and does not have that much support but if we play well then there will be a lot of difference. Our effort will be to motivate parents in Pakistan to encourage their girls to make a career in sports.
She considers bowlers, especially spinners as the key to the success of the team but said that a lot of work has been done in the last one year on batting.
He said, “We have a top -class bowler and the spinner will be our trumpcard. We will depend more on bowling than batting but have done a lot of work on batting in the last one year, which will result in the focus of the team to maintain the qualifier rhythm and the three -match series before the tournament against South Africa will help prepare a team combination.
He said, “The team is in good rhythm and everyone’s morale has increased after a good performance in the qualifier. More or less the same players are in the team who played qualifiers. This is the first World Cup of six players and is quite excited. ”The Pakistani team practicing at the camp in Lahore has played domestic matches only after qualifiers in April but the captain is satisfied with the preparations. He said, “We played matches in domestic cricket. Before the tournament, the series from South Africa is to play a series in which the team will try to prepare a combination. We would like the players not to show natural games by not taking the pressure of the World Cup. ”
Describing Australia as a strong contender for the title, Fatima said that four teams of the semi -finals cannot be speculated but India’s performance has also been continuously. He said, “My favorite team is Australia. It is difficult to say about the top four but India’s performance has been very good in the last few years. He has very experienced players like Jemima, Smriti and Harmanpreet but we will not focus on any one player. ”He also said that being a host, there will be pressure on India but will also benefit from playing on the home ground. Fatima said, “India has never won the World Cup and as a host, there will be pressure to win but with it, the morale also increases due to the domestic audience.” Now it depends on the team how they take it. ”
Since childhood, Australian Dhurandhar Elise Parry’s Murid has also been watching the match of IPL Champion Royal Challengers Bangalore due to him and Virat Kohli. He said, “Royal Challengers Bangalore is my favorite team because of Virat and Elise Parry.
