LAHORE: The overhaul of the Pakistan women’s cricket continued in the wake of its dismal performance in this year’s World Cup with Sana Mir axed as the One-day International captain and Bismah Mahroof named her successor.

That was one of several decisions announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) through a press release here on Saturday.

Pakistan ended winless in the World Cup in England, losing some matches from winning positions due to some wrong decision of Sana and the team management.

Sana, however, has been retained as a member of the team which will be led by Bismah, who was already Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain.

Team manager Ayesha Ashar though not only survived the revamp but was promoted to run the women’ wing as its interim head in place of Shamsa Hashmi till a new general manager is appointed.

Head coach Sabih Azhar, for whom the World Cup was his first assignment, had earlier been replaced by New Zealand’s Mark Coles and on Saturday the selection committee headed by Mohammad Ilyas, formed just two months prior to the World Cup, was disbanded.

That comes despite the selection committee having inducted some new faces including Diana Beg, Nasra Sidhu, Ghulam Fatima, Naheeda Khan and Ayesha Zafar who showed good potential during the World Cup.

“Following a review of the current women’s cricket structure, the PCB has reviewed the relevant reports of coach, captain, chief selector and manager and has interviewed the manager, captain and general manager women’s cricket and has taken [these] decisions to address the decline in the performance of the team,” the PCB stated in its press release.

While Shamsa, Ayesha and Sana met with PCB chairman Najam Sethi, Director Cricket Haroon Rashid and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Subhan Ahmad on Friday, it is interesting to note that no such meeting took place with Ilyas.

Sacking Shamsa might be problematic for the PCB as she was a regular employee and to remove her, the cricket’s governing body has to serve her a charge sheet to explain her position.

“These are well thought out decisions taken after a comprehensive internal review,” Sethi said. “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 women’s cricket in Pakistan. She has led the team with great respect and had always used her best abilities to serve the team.”

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2017