Pakistan international and Sindh’s Aroob Shah will lead Pakistan in the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup which will be played from 14 to 29 January 2023 in South Africa.

Women’s selector Asmavia Iqbal announced a 15-player squad and five reserves players. These players were selected after their performances in this year’s Women U19 T20 Tournament held at Lahore Country Club in Muridke from 13 to 22 August.

Later, the top performers of the six-team tournament had undergone two skills and training camps staged at the Inzamam-ul-Haq High Performance Centre, Multan in September and at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre, Karachi in November.

To further assess their fitness and skills, the U19 players had also featured in the first phase of T20 Women’s Cricket Tournament held at Lahore’s LCCA Ground from 26 November to 2 December. The players were part of Team Conquerors, one of the three participating teams in the event.

Aroob Shah, who has featured for Pakistan in two ODIs and five T20Is, will have the services of hard hitting right-handed batters Eyman Fatima and Shawaal Zulfiqar.

Besides the duo, Aroob who herself is a leg-spinner, will have promising spinners in the likes of Rida Aslam (left-arm spinner), Quratulain Ahsen (leg-spinner), Anosha Nasir (off-spinner) and Mahnoor Aftab (off-spinner). The squad also includes four fast bowlers in Areesha Noor, Haleema Azeem Dar, Haniah Ahmer and Zaib-un-Nisa.

As per the ICC’s eligibility criteria for the event, players born on or after 1 September 2003 have been selected.

Chief Selector Asmavia Iqbal: “I want to congratulate the 15 players who have made into the squad for the inaugural U19 event. I remain confident that this side has the capability and potential to do well in the mega event. These players were selected after a rigorous and robust process and I want to congratulate the coaches who have worked tirelessly hard on the skills of the players to get them ready for the event.

“The tournament will also help us to increase our pool of players which will ultimately help in forming a strong and more competitive squad at the senior level.”

Squad (in alphabetical order):

Aroob Shah (Captain) (Sindh), Aliza Khan (Sindh), Anosha Nasir (Sindh), Areesha Noor (Central Punjab), Eyman Fatima (Central Punjab), Haleema Azeem Dar (Central Punjab), Haniah Ahmer (Sindh), Laiba Nasir (Central Punjab), Mahnoor Aftab (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Quratulain Ahsen (Central Punjab), Rida Aslam (Central Punjab), Shawaal Zulfiqar (Central Punjab), Warda Yousaf (Central Punjab), Zaib-un-Nisa (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Zamina Tahir (Central Punjab)

Reserves: Aqsa Yousaf (Southern Punjab), Dina Razvi (Sindh), Maham Anees (Northern), Muskan Abid (Central Punjab) and Tahzeeb Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Support staff: Aisha Jalil (Manager), Mohsin Kamal (Head coach), Muhammad Kamran Hussain (Assistant coach), Saboor Ahmad (Strength and Conditioning coach), Muhammad Usman Shahid (Analyst), Rabia Siddiq (Physiotherapist) and Dr Hafiz Salman Asif (Team Doctor).

Schedule of Pakistan’s matches at the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup South Africa 2023:

15 January – vs Rwanda, Potchefstroom

17 January – vs England, Potchefstroom

19 January – vs Zimbabwe, Potchefstroom