SAHIWAL: A 15-member women cricket squad from Sahiwal Division is participating in the two-day training camp for the First Women Regional Cricket League going to be played between the South Punjab Cricket Association (SPCA) and the Sindh Cricket Association (SCA) at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in connection with the International Women’s Day in March.

The training camp is currently running at the Multan International Cricket Stadium in which 60 girls from four divisional headquarters of South Punjab – DG Khan, Multan, Sahiwal and Bahawalpur – are participating to build an 11-member SPCA women cricket team.

The cricketers, including Bakhtawar Iqbal (25), a resident of village Thatha Bahdur Singh, Noor Shah, Ayesha Aslam (20), of Chowk Azam, Layyah, Gul Rukh (23() from DG Khan city and Mariya Gul, a BS student of the Government Degree College, Muzaffargarh, expressed excitement to be trained by the First-Class coaches and prospect of playing the women league in Lahore on the eve of International Women Day.

Dr Abdul Saboor, the SPCA chief executive officer, told Dawn that 60 girls had been provided with the best cricket facilities at the training camp.

Sania Malik, the head of Women Cricket, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), said her organisation had floated the idea among six regional cricket associations but the SPCA and the SCA took the lead and came up with both financial and technical proposals.

According to the sources, the PCB has provided technical support, certified coaches, the international stadium for coaching and training, lodging and stay to the women cricketers.

The Provincial Ombudsperson’s Office, Lahore is also a part of the women regional league.

Nabila Hakim, the Punjab ombudsperson, told Dawn that sports could be used as an effective tool to promote women rights struggle; hence, her office fully supported the ongoing initiative.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2022