Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Nida Dar has been appointed as the captain of women’s cricket team, while Mark Coles has been reappointed as the head coach, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced.
The board also said that former men’s Test cricketer Saleem Jaffar will be the new chair of the Women’s Selection Committee and all the three major appointments have been approved by Najam Sethi, the Chair of the PCB Management Committee.
The PCB further said the appointments were kept keeping in mind the future international commitments of the side, including hosting South Africa and West Indies and touring Bangladesh, England and New Zealand.
Notably, the Pakistan women’s team is scheduled to play five bilateral cricket series comprising a total of 15 ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 ODIs in the next 11 months.
Nida, the off-spin all-rounder, has represented Pakistan in 130 T20Is and 99 ODIs and is also the leading wicket-taker in T20I women’s cricket with 126 wickets to her name.
“I am honored to have been appointed as the captain of the Pakistan women’s cricket team. It is a huge responsibility, and I am excited to lead the team in the upcoming events. I want to thank the PCB for entrusting me with this responsibility and will do my best to take the team forward. I also want to thank Bismah Maroof for her services as the captain of the team. She has done a fantastic job, and I hope to continue her legacy and lead the team with the same passion and commitment,” Nida said in her statement.
“The upcoming season of women’s cricket is going to be a tough one. But we are fortunate to have some young exciting talent in our pool of players, which I am confident will significantly improve during the course and also help the side to produce strong performances. As a captain, my objective remains to inspire and mentor these young players to become quality cricketers. I will be extremely satisfied and content if we first break and then cement our place in the upper half of the ICC Women’s Championship before slowly working our way into the top-three,” she added.
On the other hand, Coles had earlier served as Pakistan’s head coach from 2017 to 2019 and during his time, the side achieved major results, including a fifth finish in the ICC Women’s Championship 2017-2020 that paved the way for the side to feature in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2022.
He will be joined by Mohtashim Rasheed (fielding coach), Taufeeq Umar (batting coach) and Saleem Jaffar (bowling coach) in the coaching staff.
“I am grateful to the PCB for giving me yet another opportunity to work with the talented Pakistan women’s team.It has been a privilege to work with such a talented group of players and I look forward to the exciting times ahead as we aim to improve our previous performances and achievements,” said Coles.
“We have a lot of potential in the team, and I look forward to helping the players to give their best and achieve success on the international stage,” he added.
“These are exciting times to work in women’s cricket as not only a lot of competitive cricket is lined-up, but we have in our pool some young but extremely talented and skilled cricketers, who have all the ingredients to become top-ranked international players” he said.
“It is our collective responsibility to help them achieve their career objectives and targets, and as chair of the selection committee and bowling coach, I look forward to this challenge,” he added.