She is properly conscious of the strain of taking part in towards arch-rivals India within the Women’s ODI World Cup opener towards India subsequent month however Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof hopes that the marquee match will encourage women throughout the border to make a profession within the sport.
India are set to face Pakistan of their opener of the World Cup on March 6 at Tauranga, New Zealand. The quadrennial occasion might be held from March 4 to April 3 throughout six cities in New Zealand.
“Pakistan vs India is indeed a great stage for any player to establish his credentials, but at the end of the day, it is a cricket match that has to be won by executing the basics right and keeping thing simple,” Maroof, who’s making a comeback after motherhood, informed PTI Bhasha from Queenstown, New Zealand.
“This match is a superb alternative to encourage thousands and thousands of ladies in Pakistan and India to take up this sport as a occupation. It is the most important rivalry, and attracts innumerable eyeballs.
“I hope girls in the two countries will watch this match and will be inspired to take up the game,” mentioned the 30 12 months outdated who has performed over 200 worldwide matches for Pakistan.
She praised the Mithali Raj led Indian staff however she could be very optimistic about Pakistan’s probabilities towards them.
“The Indian staff is an effective unit and has achieved properly lately. They even have had some excellent kids coming in of late,” she mentioned.
“Our goal is to make it to the semi-finals, one thing which we’ve by no means achieved earlier than. I strongly consider that this facet has all of the components to realize that.
Being the senior most participant and the captain of the staff , she feels that it’s her responsibility to steer from from instance.
“Being the senior participant and the captain of the facet you need to encourage your staff and lead by instance. If you aren’t doing the best issues, you can’t demand them from women. I’ve a really clear imaginative and prescient with this staff that we have to be in prime 4.”
When requested concerning the staff composition she mentioned that situations in New Zealand will decide the taking part in eleven.
Maroof has performed 108 ODIs and equal variety of T20 matches and has scored 2602 and 2225 runs respectively.
Having seen many ups and downs in her journey up to now, she had as soon as determined to give up cricket to embrace motherhood.
“It has been an incredible journey and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Being a cricketer has designed my life and played a very important role in the person I am today. There have been ups and downs, which have made me learn ,” she mentioned.
“I’m very excited to be again. It appears like I’m making my debut once more for Pakistan. I’m grateful to my household, particularly my husband who has supported me immensely all through this section. I additionally wish to point out the assist that the Pakistan Cricket Board has supplied me by means of the parental coverage,” mentioned Maroof .
To make a profitable comeback after motherhood is just not straightforward and Maroof has labored very laborious to regain that degree of type and health.
“The journey from childbirth to getting right here had its justifiable share of difficulties, as I needed to begin from scratch to regain my health. Women do not typically return to sports activities or proceed their skilled careers after getting married or childbirth.
“I spent a lot of time doing strength and conditioning sessions at the National High Performance Center in Lahore.”
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
