KARACHI: Beating India in last year’s Women’s T20 Asia Cup is a memory Pakistan aren’t letting go of anytime soon. After all, a major chunk of their confidence comes from the very victory as they clash against the heavyweight arch-rivals in their T20 World Cup opener in Cape Town, South Africa on Sunday.

One of the reasons Pakistan need to keep inspiring themselves from the Asia Cup feat is India’s utter domination over them in World Cups — in 14 games between the two sides, Pakistan have three wins as compared to India’s 10.

While India — one of the giants in the women’s game — have been fairly consistent, Pakistan haven’t been able to build on significant achievements. In the Asia Cup only, they were beaten by Thailand before bouncing back against India to eventually qualify for the semi-final, in which they agonizingly fell short of just a run against Sri Lanka.

What followed was a stunning 2-0 T20 series loss against Ireland at home before Pakistan women were drubbed recently by mighty Australians 3-0 in their backyard.

“We are quite well-prepared for this World Cup, and will try to put in a good performance,” veteran Pakistan all-rounder Aliya Riaz told Dawn. “We made it to the semi-finals of the Asia Cup and the best part about that tournament was that we beat India, which helped us gain a lot of confidence.”

Aliya, who made her Pakistan debut in 2014, has featured in three T20 World Cups. What she and her team-mates have learnt from experience is that the modern game requires an attacking approach.

“The more we apply an attacking approach, the higher the chances of favourable results and we have worked on this a lot as well,” said the right-arm medium pacer.

Pakistan have been heavily reliant on their senior players in the last few years, with another veteran Nida Dar being their most important player by far. Since October last year, the all-rounder has topped both batting and bowling charts for the national side. The flamboyant right-hander has averaged 39 in 12 matches scoring 273 runs with a strike-rate of more than 114. With the ball, the leg-spinner has bagged 15 wickets.

Apart from Nida, Aliya herself, captain Bismah Maroof and seasoned opener Sidra Ameen are the players who have shielded the less experienced younger players from getting exposed.

Over the last year, however, Pakistan have unearthed talented youngsters in leg-spinner Tuba Hasan and hard-hitting batter Ayesha Naseem. Tuba has bagged 14 wickets in her 18 T20 games since debuting in May last year and will be Pakistan’s strike bowler in the World Cup. Ayesha, on the other hand, has showed glimpses of being seriously potent power hitter, an ability that suits the format perfectly.

The right-hander doesn’t spent much time on the crease since she comes lower down the order. But whenever she has batted, the 18-year-old has smashed some clean hits with power and precision.

Her two sixes in the second T20 against Australia gained recognition from commentators and fans on social media and the batter may be the one to look forward to against India and throughout the World Cup.

“Whenever you perform against big oppositions, it helps boost your confidence and that what happened for me in Australia, where I played for the first time and shined in my role as a power-hitter,” Ayesha told Dawn.

“As a player, one always wants to play World Cups. I’ll try my best to contribute as much as I can to see my team win.”

Ayesha hails from the scenic city of Abbotabad, where she used to play cricket with her brother before being picked in the women’s U-16 trials by the Pakistan Cricket Board before making it to the senior side not long after.

“The power is God-gifted but in the off season I work on my shape, balance and head position,” the batter said of her practice routine. “As a power hitter these three things are really important.”

It needs to be seen now how Ayesha and her fellow young team-mates support their veteran partners to make a mark in the World Cup. She gave signs of her potential to do so in Pakistan’s last warm-up match ahead of the showpiece; an eight-wicket loss against hosts South Africa.

“Ayesha is performing really well, she will be very impactful and in the last warm up match, me and Ayesha put up a partnership in which she hit some good shots, we hope to see that continue,” said Aliya.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2023