LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain Sana Mir failed to make the cut for the T20 World Cup that will be staged in Australia from Feb 21 to March as chief selector Urooj Mumtaz announced the 15-member squad here on Monday.

It seemed Sana, who turned 34 on Jan 5, the end of her international career has come because she wasn’t part of the national side that faced England in the last T20 series in Malaysia.

Urooj dispelled the impression that any personal conflict was reason of Sana not being selected for the mega event.

“There is no doubt Sana has been most experienced woman cricketer but unfortunately her recent performances against Bangladesh and in T20 domestic tournament are not impressive to win her a place,” Urooj told a media conference at the Gaddafi Stadium. “Sana has achieved a lot at the international level over the years of achievements and has been a role model for the younger generation.

“I think this is the best squad we have picked for the World Cup. It is a nice blend of youth and experienced players. I wish the team best of luck in the coming World Cup.”

Pakistan skipper Bismah Maroof, who also addressed the media, expressed confidence over the squad and hoped Pakistan are in a position to qualify for the next round of the tournament.

“We finalised the squad for the mega event after having lengthy deliberations on each and every player. The decision to drop Sana was much difficult because I wanted her [in the team] and we held long discussions with the panel of selectors,” Bismah said. “We have to pick one of the best youngsters in place of Sana and I respect the decision of the majority, which unfortunately went against Sana.

“But I do hope Sana will continue playing with the same passion to reclaim her place in the national side.”

The selectors have recalled Muneeba Ali and Aiman Anwar and have included uncapped Ayesha Naseem. The trio replaced Nahida Khan, Ayesha Zafar and Ramin Shamim, who were the part of the side which lost the recent T20 series to England 3-0.

The average age of the side is 24.8.

Bismah, meanwhile, said England appear to be the most formidable opponents in their group since they had beaten Pakistan in the recent past. Pakistan, on the other hand, have beaten two other strong sides South Africa and the West Indies who along with minnows Thailand are also in Pool ‘B’.

The team will depart for Australia on Jan 31 to play three warm-up matches against the West Indies on Feb 7, 9 and 11 before featuring in the World Cup. Before the departure, the team will hold an eight-day training camp in Karachi from Jan 23.

Pakistan will play the first match against West Indies on Feb 26 and take on England on Feb 28, South Africa on March 1 and Thailand on March 3.

Squad: Bismah Maroof (captain), Javeria Wadood Khan, Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Anum Amin, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Iram Javed, Muneeba Ali, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Nawaz, Aroob Shah.

Officials: Iqbal Imam (head coach); Saleem Jaffer (bowling coach); Aamir Iqbal (fielding coach); Gemaal Hussain (strength and conditioning coach); Dr Riffat Asghar Gill (physio); Aisha Jalil (team manager); Zubair Ahmed (video analyst).

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2020