ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier not easy competition for Pakistan, says Sana Mir

New Delhi: There are few players who are better versed in navigating ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier events than Sana Mir and the former Pakistan skipper believes the next instalment could be the most competitive yet.

Sana helped Pakistan through three qualifiers in her playing days, in 2008, 2011 and 2017, captaining her country in the latter two.

Pakistan are the host this year as they bid to claim one of the final two spots on offer for the showpiece in India later this year, and Sana is looking forward to seeing how it plays out in the coming weeks.

“There is a lot of excitement, and everyone is looking forward to it. It will be a tough competition. West Indies have done brilliantly in the last couple of years, especially under Hayley Matthews, Bangladesh have done quite well in ODIs in the last couple of years, they have beaten India in an ODI and done well against South Africa and Ireland,” she said in an ICC release.

“For Pakistan, I feel there are quite a lot of changes. Fatima Sana is a good captain, she has done really well since taking on that role, but it will not be an easy competition. Ireland have looked good, they were able to beat England last year, Scotland have also played well under Kathryn Bryce, they have more international and league exposure than before.

“You can never write Thailand off with the work ethic they have, they put in so much hard work, and if more opportunities are given to associate nations, they will rise up really quickly. With all these things put together, it will be a close tournament. West Indies are perhaps favourites but the rest are quite neck-and-neck,” she added. IANS

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