ISLAMABAD: All-rounder Nida Dar who made history by becoming the first woman cricketer from Pakistan to play in a foreign league believes she can be an inspiration for other female cricketers in the country by featuring in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia.

Nida, 32, was signed by Sydney Thunder for this year’s WBBL. The Gujranwala-born cricketer, who has played 71 ODIs and 96 T20 Internationals for Pakistan, made her international debut in 2010 and has gradually cemented her place as a seasoned all-rounder.

Expressing her excitement over playing top-level cricket in Australia, Nida said competing in WBBL will take her skills to a new level. “I want to learn from this [WBBL] tournament,” Nida said in an interview with Sydney Thunder website upon arriving in Sydney.

On asking whether her participation in WBBL will pave the way for other Pakistani cricketers, Nida replied in affirmative. “This is the pathway for other girls too. The girls are waiting for me over there. They want to watch my game over here,” she said.

Keeping an eye on the upcoming T20 World Cup to be held in Australia, Nida said WBBL will act as the pre-season, and hoped she can give her team-mates some tips and tricks of playing in WBBL.”Everyone here [at Sydney] is very helpful. I am feeling very great over here,” she added.

Sydney Thunder will be in action on the opening day of the tournament when they take on Sydney Sixers in a derby match on Friday.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2019