Pakistan’s preparations for next month’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Dubai and Sharjah have been far from ideal.

The Pakistan team have lost 11 of the 15 T20Is since the start of this year, and the seismic changes in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have resulted in the change of the entire backroom staff, just three months from the all-important tournament. It has also seen the appointment of a 22-year-old as captain just a little over a month from the opening match.

Pakistan are slated in the toughest group of the 10-team competition. Three of their opponents — Australia (top ranked and defending champions), India (third) and New Zealand (fourth) — are among the top four sides in the International Cricket Council rankings, and Sri Lanka (sixth) are two places above them on the table.

Pakistan women have never gone beyond the group stage of a T20 World Cup and that their performances have remained abysmal this year gives little hope to the fans.

With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup right round the corner, Eos speaks to the head coach of the Pakistan’s women side to guess their chances in the event

Since his appointment as the head coach of the women’s side, former Pakistan Test cricketer Muhammad Wasim has set in motion specific plans to overhaul his team. It has brought Pakistan three of their four wins of the year in the last seven matches, across the Asia Cup and a three-T20I series against South Africa.

“It is a different challenge altogether,” he tells Eos on the eve of the team’s departure for Dubai for the T20 World Cup. “The dynamics of the women’s dressing room are different and it is very important to understand that.”

Wasim, who is working in the women’s set-up for the first time, comes in the job with solid coaching credentials. He led Northern, a side largely comprising young domestic cricketers, to the National T20 title in 2020 before taking them to successive finals of the first-class Quaid-i-Azam Trophy. He has also served as a chief selector of the national men’s side.

Wasim has a plan to turn his new team into a modern-day women’s side. He shares it with Eos at a Lahore hotel.

“The skill is there,” he says, “but, the lack of physical fitness and ability to handle pressure has held us back. We have been working on these two areas, and you must have seen its impact in our batting approach in the recent series against South Africa.”

Pakistan posted their highest-ever T20I score (181) in the second of the three T20Is against South Africa in Multan, with the team hitting as many as six sixes. Pakistan — in this T20 World Cup cycle — have hit just one six every 114 balls on average. This was a welcome change for a side that has struggled with power hitting.

“We identified this as a major area for improvement,” Wasim says about Pakistan’s poor boundary-hitting record.

One of Wasim’s assistants in the coaching staff is Hanif Malik. The two come from the most data-driven Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises, Multan Sultans and Islamabad United, respectively. When they crunched the numbers in their first camp together, ahead of the Asia Cup, they found Pakistan lagging behind other sides by great margins.

“The players had the capability to hit boundaries and sixes, but they were holding themselves back,” says Wasim. “We worked on shifting their mindset towards a positive brand of cricket.

“Now, Muneeba Ali has started to go for boundaries more often. Gull Feroza has shown in patches her power-hitting abilities. Sidra [Ameen], Aliya Riaz and Nida Dar all have the ability to clear the ropes. Hanif has worked immensely with the girls on power-hitting. There will be a change in how we bat in the T20 World Cup.”

During the recent South Africa series, the players were stunned when they were discouraged from any type of physical training on the off-days. A few weeks before, they had gone through a rigorous week-long fitness camp in Lahore. To the players’ surprise, they did no skill work in that camp.

These measures, Wasim says, are in line with effective workload management practices. “I cannot make these players fitter overnight, but I have started the process of achieving the desired fitness standards. We have designed proper workload management plans for the players — as any professional team does —  with the help of our strength and conditioning coach and physiotherapist.

“We demanded a lot from these girls during the Lahore fitness camp. I was unsure how they would respond, but they responded really well. The players now realise the importance of improving their fitness, and I can see their commitment in the gym and dining halls, which is pleasing to see.”

Our conversation moves towards data — one of the most divisive topics in Pakistan cricket. “This is different from the men’s cricket,” Wasim says with a grin. “The women players are more receptive and understand the importance of data in cricket. They have made my life easy.”

The Pakistan dugout now feeds its captain with information about favourable match-ups through numeric codes.

“Data is not rocket science,” Wasim claims. “It encapsulates what has transpired historically and provides you information that you are not aware of… Initially, some players did not fully comprehend the idea of data in cricket. But, the players started to get the hang of it during the Asia Cup.

“To tell you how much players have started to buy into the idea of using data in cricket, our spinner Sadia [Iqbal] even asks us about her favourable match-ups in intra-squad matches.”

Fatima Sana, Pakistan’s new captain, has also been open to the use of data-driven strategies. “Fatima understands the demands of the modern-day game,” Wasim says. “She is young, has a lot of energy, and inspires the team with her performances.”

Though Pakistan lost to South Africa 2-1 in what was their last series before the T20 World Cup, Wasim is satisfied with the preparations. Pakistan begin their tournament campaign on October 3 — the day the T20 World Cup begins — by playing Sri Lanka in Sharjah. But, all eyes will be on the October 6 contest, when they play India in Dubai.

“Regardless of the venue or the level at which it is played, a match against India always has its pressure,” Wasim says. “We did not win against them in the Asia Cup and the result may come across as rather one-sided. We looked better than India in certain phases, but we could not capitalise on those opportunities and they were too good for us in the end.

“But, considering the form our players are in, the preparations we have had, the improvements in our batting, and the fact that our spin attack is one of the best in the world, I am sure the result will be different this time.”

Though Wasim’s appointment continues to be on a series-by-series basis, there are indications that he will land the job for the long term. The Wasim-Fatima duo could yet herald a new-era of women’s cricket in Pakistan.

“Everyone wants to win and I want to win too,” he says. “But, you need to set realistic goals. In the short-term, I want to instil belief that we can win against any side. In the medium-term, we have to develop back-ups and increase the pool of players through domestic competitions. In the longer-run, we have to enhance our batting strength and develop fast bowlers. We do not have enough fast bowlers in the set-up, which is a concern.

“We also have to introduce two-day cricket, either from this season or the next, as it will definitely improve the skills of our players. We also need to have a women’s PSL. But, we don’t have enough cricketers in our pool for that at this stage. Whenever it happens, the women’s PSL will be a game-changer.

“I will keep banging on the door to make one happen in Pakistan,” he says.

The writer is a cricket journalist and former PCB media manager. X:@ahsannagi

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 29th, 2024