DAMBULLA: The Pakistan women’s cricket team has started “moving in the right direction” ahead of their T20 Asia Cup semi-final, head coach Mohammad Wasim has said.

Led by Nida Dar, the national side got clinical nine-wicket and 10-wicket victories over Nepal and the United Arab Emirates respectively in their last two Group ‘A’ matches after having started the eight-team tournament with a seven-wicket thrashing at the hands of archrivals India.

“We struggled a bit in the first match; we couldn’t execute our plans well both with the bat and the ball,” Wasim said in a video released by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday.

“But after that, with how we have shown improvement in the second and the third matches, I think we are moving in the right direction.”

The Women’s T20 Asia Cup in Wasim’s first assignment as the Pakistan head coach in the country’s cricket board’s attempt to address the side’s dismal form since the past few months.

Wasim, as it seems, has been able to inject a sense of aggression in Pakistan’s style of play, which was evident against Nepal and UAE as the players, especially the batters, constantly looked to attack.

“It’s all about having an attacking mindset and it is where we want to go,” said Wasim. “We have gone into these matches with a slightly better style than before.”

With fairly weak sides now past them, Pakistan now look to take on hosts Sri Lanka in the semi-final, set to be played on Friday. Wasim said his team needed to repeat what they have done against Nepal and UAE.

“The next step is that when we play against a better side, with do that with the same mindset, we apply these things there too,” he observed.

To bring the girls to their current mental shape, Wasim believed, it was important to “give them freedom”.

“If we want to take it from the girls, we have to give them the freedom to express as much talent as they have, whether it’s in bowling, batting, or fielding,” he noted, “[…] we’ve done drills too, but mainly, it was about empowering the girls to express their talent.

“When we want to play modern cricket, obviously, we need modern coaching for that too. You can’t coach them in a traditional style and expect them to deliver modern cricket.”

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2024