Leg-spinner Aroob Shah was selected Pakistan's captain on Wednesday for the ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup, which will take place in South Africa from January 14 to January 29 of 2019.
Aroob, 18, who has played for Pakistan's senior women's team in two ODIs and five T20Is, will have the assistance of powerful right-handed hitters Eyman Fatima and Shawaal Zulfiqar in the squad chosen by chief selector Asmavia Iqbal.
She will also take part in the spin assault with Rida Aslam, Quratulain Ahsen, Anosha Nasir, and Mahnoor Aftab. Aslam is a left-arm spinner (off-spinner). Four quick bowlers, Areesha Noor, Haleema Azeem Dar, Haniah Ahmer, and Zaib-un-Nisa, are also on the team.
"I wish to congratulate the 15 athletes who were selected for the U19 event roster. I continue to believe that this team can succeed in the major competition and has the potential to."
"These guys were chosen following a thorough selection procedure, and I want to applaud the coaches who worked tirelessly to improve the players' talents in preparation for the event."
In an official release, Asmavia said, "The event will also assist us to increase our pool of players, which will ultimately help in developing a strong and more competitive squad at the senior level."
Following their performances in this year's Women U19 T20 Tournament, which took place at Lahore Country Club in Muridke from August 13 to August 22, the 15-player squad and five reserve players were chosen.
The top players from the six-team competition later participated in two skills and training camps held at the Inzamam-ul-Haq High Performance Centre in Multan in September and the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi in November.
The U19 players had also participated in the first round of the T20 Women's Cricket Tournament, which was held at Lahore's LCCA Ground from November 26 to December 2 in order to further evaluate their physical preparedness and skills. The athletes belonged to Team Conquerors, one of the three competing teams in the competition.
The competition's Group B, which includes Pakistan along with England, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe, will host all of its games in Potchefstroom. They will play Rwanda in their opening game on January 15. Then, on January 17 and 19, they will play England and Zimbabwe, respectively.
The top three teams from each group will advance to the Super Six round, where teams will be pooled into two groups of six, in the 16-team tournament that will feature 41 matches in Benoni and Potchefstroom and be divided into four groups.
The top two teams from each group advance to the semi-final matches, which will take place on January 27 at Potchefstroom's JB Marks Oval. On January 29, the final will be held at the same location.
Pakistan squad: Aroob Shah (Captain), Aliza Khan, Anosha Nasir, Areesha Noor, Eyman Fatima, Haleema Azeem Dar, Haniah Ahmer, Laiba Nasir, Mahnoor Aftab, Quratulain Ahsen, Rida Aslam, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Warda Yousaf, Zaib-un-Nisa and Zamina Tahir
Reserve Players: Aqsa Yousaf, Dina Razvi, Maham Anees, Muskan Abid and Tahzeeb Shah