Former Pakistan women's captain Sana Mir has expressed her excitement ahead of the three Women's League exhibition matches set to take place in Pakistan. The matches will be held at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on March 8, 10, and 11, and will provide an opportunity for local players to showcase their skills.
"This will provide an opportunity to the women cricketers to come forward and showcase their skills," said Sana in an official statement by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). "These exhibition matches are very important for the local players to know and understand the requirements of the modern-day cricket, what international players are doing, how they can improve their skill-set and how they can perform in the pressure situations."
In the exhibition matches, 10 foreign players from seven countries will feature in two teams - Amazons and Super Women. The women's matches will start at 2 pm and will be followed by the men's Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches at 7 pm.
"These exhibition matches taking place alongside HBL PSL 8 is a huge thing, it will increase the viewership and attracts the younger audience to come forward and adopt this game, boosting women's cricket," said Sana.
Bismah Maroof will captain Amazons, which includes Ireland's Laura Delany, England's trio of Lauren Winfield-Hill, Maia Bouchier, and Tammy Beaumont, and Australia's Tess Flintoff. Nida Dar will lead Super Women, which will comprise Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu, Danni Wyatt of England, Jahanara Alam of Bangladesh, South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt, and Lea Tahuhu of New Zealand.
"The hosting of exhibition matches is a step forward in the growth of women's cricket. The matches provide a huge opportunity to the emerging players to share the dressing room with international stars," said Marina Iqbal, who represented Pakistan in 78 matches.
The league at home will not only help players to improve their game, but it also gives them a chance to get selected in foreign leagues. "It is an opportunity for budding cricketers to play alongside top cricketers, learn from them, compete with them and also see where they stand in the game," concluded Marina.