LAHORE       -     Nida Dar has been appointed as the Pakistan women’s team captain, Mark Coles has been confirmed as the head coach while former Test cricketer Saleem Jaffar has been named as the chair of the Women’s Selection Committee in key appointments, which were approved by the Chair of the PCB Management Committee Najam Sethi.

The appointments have been made in light of the PCB’s vision and strategy to invest further into women’s cricket and keeping in mind the upcoming international assignments, including hosting South Africa and tours to Bangladesh and New Zealand for the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 fixtures. Overall, in an 11-month period from August 2023 to July 2024, Pakistan women’s team is scheduled to play five bilateral cricket series comprising a total of 15 ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 ODIs.

In addition to these 50-over matches, Pakistan will play as many as 17 T20Is. These ODIs and T20Is will lead to the 10-team ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and eight-team ICC Women’s World Cup in India, which will be held in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Najam Sethi said: “I want to congratulate Nida, Mark and Saleem on their appointments. Nida is a seasoned and highly-respected player, Mark has a proven track record in women’s cricket coaching and Saleem brings with him wealth of international experience and knowledge. “We are confident this combination will not only attract and help young cricketers to fulfill their dreams of becoming top-quality international cricketers, but will also ensure the side as a whole emulates their previous performances and achievements.

“I remain confident under their supervision and guile of Nida, Mark and Saleem, Pakistan women’s cricket will grow and flourish.” New Pakistan women team captain Nida Dar won the PCB Women’s Cricketer of the Year for 2021 and replaced Bismah Maroof, who stepped down from captaincy following the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa. Nida is one of the most experienced players in the country, having represented Pakistan in 130 T20Is and 99 ODIs. She is also the leading wicket-taker in T20I women’s cricket with 126 wickets to her name.

In the ICC Women’s Rankings, Nida is presently ranked 32nd, 24th and ninth in ODI batters, bowlers and all-rounders’ categories, respectively. In T20Is, Nida is the 38th ranked batter, 21st ranked bowler and seventh ranked all-rounder. “I am honored to have been appointed as the captain of the Pakistan women’s cricket team. It is a huge responsibility, and I am excited to lead the team in the upcoming events. I want to thank the PCB for entrusting me with this responsibility and will do my best to take the team forward. “I also want to thank Bismah Maroof for her services as the captain of the team. She has done a fantastic job, and I hope to continue her legacy and lead the team with the same passion and commitment.

“The upcoming season of women’s cricket is going to be a tough one. But we are fortunate to have some young exciting talent in our pool of players, which I am confident will significantly improve during the course and also help the side to produce strong performances.

“As a captain, my objective remains to inspire and mentor these young players to become quality cricketers. I will be extremely satisfied and content if we first break and then cement our place in the upper half of the ICC Women’s Championship before slowly working our way into the top-three.”