Former captain Urooj Mumtaz will be chairing a new all-female selection committee for women’s cricket, a press statement by Pakistan Cricket Board said on Wednesday.
The impressive Asmavia Iqbal has been retained, while Marina Iqbal has been added as a new selector. The immediate task of the committee will be to select a side for the upcoming ICC Women’s Championship fixture away in South Africa in May.
As part of the board’s restructuring within the women’s game, Aisha Jalil has been elevated to team manager, while Ayesha Ashhar has been assigned the responsibility of planning and coordinating international cricket.
The new selection committee has been installed after the panel headed by former men’s Test player Jalaluddin, and also including former international Akhtar Sarfraz, completed their respective terms last month.
PCB Managing Director Wasim Khan thanked Jalaluddin and Sarfraz for their contribution to women’s cricket. “Women’s cricket will be an important priority moving forward and this has been reflected in the selection of such a relevant and dynamic committee. Their appointments will go a long way towards accelerating the progress of our senior women’s team,” he said.
He shared that the new selection committee comprises players who, until very recently, were involved in white ball cricket. “This syncs very nicely with the PCB’s vision of providing an environment where women’s cricket not only thrives but where we are able to increase our pool of players so that it can sustainably grow and flourish.”
Former women’s captain Mumtaz, who represented Pakistan in 92 one-dayers and 68 T20s, said she was confident that “the performance of the team would improve steadily”.
