Fatima Sana, the youngest captain of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, will return home to Karachi on Thursday on the earliest flight available after finding out about her father’s passing. She most likely won’t be able to play in tomorrow’s match in Dubai versus Australia Women.
Sana’s replacement is expected to be Muneeba Ali, a left-handed batter and wicketkeeper.
The all-round bowler played a crucial role in pulling off an unexpected victory on the first night of play between Pakistani and Sri Lankan women. She entered the game as number seven with her team in serious trouble at 72/5, and in the first innings, she hit 30 critical runs off of just 20 deliveries. Sana’s effort gave Pakistan a few runs to work with before they were eventually bowled out for 116 on the last pitch of the innings.
She had to step up for her first ball game as Diana Baig was hurt while bowling just one delivery into the run chase. With stats of 2/10 in 2.5 overs, Sana concluded the evening as the most economical bowler for both teams.
Her performance as Player of the Match was followed by a boisterous display during Pakistan’s match versus India, their bitter rivals. Even though she wasn’t playing well at the bat, her consecutive wickets helped India’s pursuit to slow down and prevented Pakistan’s net run rate from sustaining a significant blow.
Since taking over as captain in August 2020, Sana has worked to transform the team’s mindset by utilizing a comprehensive data-driven strategy to lead a more dynamic approach at bat. Sana succeeded Nida Dar in that role.
Fatima Sana absence will be greatly felt as Pakistani women confront difficult obstacles.
Third-placed Pakistan Women will need to win at least one game (ideally both of them) to have any hope of advancing past the very competitive Group A.
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They will square up against the Kiwis following the Australian challenge. Sana, who is certain to miss the match against New Zealand Women as well, will make the already thin Pakistani team even more of a trial by fire. New Zealand Women defeated the Indians in their tournament opener
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