Women’s T20 World Cup 2024: Will try to win against Australia for Fatima and her father, says Pakistan’s stand-in captain Muneeba

With Fatima Sana urgently leaving the UAE after the sudden demise of her father, Muneeba Ali will lead Pakistan in the remaining games against Australia and New Zealand.

FILE PHOTO: Muneeba Ali (in pic) will lead Pakistan against Australia in the women’s T20 World Cup match in Dubai on Friday in the absence of Fatima Sana, who had to leave the UAE after the sudden demise of her father. | Photo Credit: Altaf Qadri

In its run-up to the T20 World Cup, England held back captain Heather Knight in the third T20I against New Zealand in Canterbury. The think tank’s idea was to prepare the team for a situation where Knight’s services may not be available.

Across groups, another side – Pakistan – now has to live out this scenario in what’s left of its T20 World Cup campaign with skipper Fatima Sana urgently leaving the UAE after the sudden demise of her father.

Fatima was a bright spot in an otherwise seesawing campaign for Pakistan that saw the team prevail by 31 runs in its opening game against Sri Lanka but fall to a six-wicket loss to India.

With key games against Australia and New Zealand remaining, Pakistan must now go ahead without its biggest trump card. Keeper-batter Muneeba Ali now has the unenviable task of getting the team through an emotional and competitively challenging time.

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“Fatima is our captain and the qualities she possesses in batting and bowling are very good and she gives our team a good balance. We will miss her as a captain and as a player, but we will try to win the match for her and her father,” Muneeba said in her first media interaction as Pakistan skipper.

After the Sri Lanka game, one where Fatima was adjudged player of the match, she spoke about trying to infuse a sense of bravery and confidence to counter the imposter syndrome the girls sometimes feel when up against more successful teams.

Muneeba will have those ideals to fall back on as she carries the team against the best side in the world, Australia, on Friday

“We have come here to win the match and that’s what we will focus on,” she said.

The odds are stacked against Pakistan when it goes up against the mighty Aussies. In 16 T20Is between the sides, Australia is unbeaten and Alyssa Healy’s side will expect that data point to remain undisturbed. Muneeba and her side understand that the tournament has to go on, even if the nation’s survival in the World Cup involves plenty of math and a few dollops of luck.

For that, Pakistan needs to figure out a way to give a better account of itself with the bat in challenging conditions in Dubai.

Muneeba has an opportunity to set the tone for that with the bat. She has Pakistan’s highest aggregate in this format this season with 560 runs in 23 innings. In the World Cup so far, she has scores of 11 (off 14 balls vs Sri Lanka) and 17 (off 26 balls vs India).

“We have played more matches in Dubai and there is a little bounce and pace which is more beneficial. But the dimensions of the ground are very big here, which is why it is not easy to hit big shots.

The trend for evening games, by and large, has been to win the toss and bat as chasing has progressively gotten a bit harder with the ball getting more movement off the pitch.

“We want to score runs and set a platform for the team to score big runs. This was missing in the last two matches. That applies to me too. I hope I can score more.”

Ahead of the contest against India, Fatima underlined the need to improve on her team’s power hitting to match up with some of the giants in the tournament. The scorecard from the India encounter will reflect a comprehensive defeat but the 16,000 fans bearing witness to that clash saw how strong Pakistan’s never-say-die spirit can be.

Fatima swung into the action with two late dismissals and with the bat. The fielding was uncompromising and the pressure never eased out till the end.

“That match was very important for us. And if you look at it, it was also very important for the opposition. It was a bit difficult for us as it was not easy to score runs on that wicket. Even scoring 100 runs was not easy, and they scored at the end of the match.

“We spoke about that, and our attitude. Whether we score low or high, we want to keep the same approach till the end, not to give up and fight till the last ball,” Fatima sniggered.

Low totals will not cut it against this Australian side which has batting depth down to the trenches of the tail.

“Anything above 140 will be a good score on this wicket. That kind of score will give us a good chance to win,” Muneeba suggested.

Pakistan’s spinners have been successful in the recent past and Sadia Iqbal and Nashra Sandhu will hope to keep the habit up against the Aussies.

“Sadia has been a key member of the side for the last 1.5 years, and Nashra’s support in the middle overs is sometimes overlooked. We know that they are very important for us and they have broken partnerships for us in difficult matches. We know that on their day, they will come good for us,” said Muneeba.