Fatima Sana, who is going to captain Pakistan in the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup, takes inspiration from India’s World Cup winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and aspires to become ‘Captain Cool’ just like him. The Pakistani team, which is unbeatable among the qualifiers in April, will begin their campaign in the ODI World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka from 30 September to 2 November against Bangladesh in Colombo on October 2.
In an interview given to Lahore, 23 -year -old Fatima said that, captaining a big tournament like World Cup, it is bound to be a little nervous initially. But I take inspiration from Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain. He further said that, I have watched more IPL matches as the captain of India. The way he takes decisions on the field, remains calm and supports his players, he gets to learn a lot. When I got the captaincy, I thought I had to be like Dhoni.
Fatima said that even after seeing Dhoni’s interview, I got a lot to learn. Let me tell you, Dhoni left international cricket on 15 August 2020 while Fatima made his debut in international cricket against South Africa on 6 May 2019.
In the Women’s ODI World Cup, Pakistan has played five times (in 1997, 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2022) but could not win a single match in 1997, 2013 and 2017. The last time in 2022 won the only win against the West Indies in Hamilton but the team finished last after losing all the matches. All -round Fatima, who scored 397 runs in 34 ODIs for Pakistan and taking 45 wickets, is sure that this time this myth will break because young players know that their performance will determine the female cricket in the country.
On this, he said that this time this myth will break because young players know how important this tournament is for Pakistan women cricket. We will not think about the past. My goal is to take the team to the semi -finals. He said, “Girls in Pakistan are now playing cricket in schools and international matches are shown live.
The ICC has also taken a very good initiative by increasing the award amount for the Women’s World Cup, which will benefit women’s cricket in a country like Pakistan. But there is still a barrier that we have to break through this tournament. “She said,” Women cricket in Pakistan is seen as a career option and not supporting that much but if we play well then there will be a lot of difference. “Bowlers, especially the spinners, consider it to be the key to the team’s success but she said that a lot of work has been done in the last one year.
He said, “We have a top -class bowler and the spinner will be our trumpcard. We will depend more on bowling than batting but have done a lot of work on batting in the last one year, which will result in the focus of the team to maintain the qualifier rhythm and the three -match series before the tournament against South Africa will help prepare a team combination. The Pakistani team practicing at the camp in Lahore has played domestic matches only after qualifiers in April but the captain is satisfied with the preparations.
He said, “We played matches in domestic cricket. Before the tournament, the series from South Africa is to play a series in which the team will try to prepare a combination. We would like the players not to show natural games by not taking the pressure of the World Cup. ”Describing Australia as a strong contender for the title, Fatima said that four semi -final teams cannot be speculated but India’s performance has also been continuously.
He said, “My favorite team is Australia. It is difficult to say about the top four but India’s performance has been very good in the last few years. He has very experienced players like Jemima, Smriti and Harmanpreet but we will not focus on any one player. ”He also said that being a host, there will be pressure on India but will also benefit from playing on the home ground. Fatima said, “India has never won the World Cup and as a host, there will be pressure to win but with it, the morale also increases due to the domestic audience.” Now it depends on the team how they take it. ”
Fatima, who started playing street cricket with her brothers at the age of 11 in Karachi, never thought that she would one day captain the World Cup. His father was his ideal, who died during the T20 World Cup last year, but forgetting this grief, Fatima played for the team.
Regarding the decision to play in the T20 World Cup despite losing his father, he said, “Papa was watching all the matches and suddenly it all happened.” The whole family wanted me to fulfill my father’s wish and play and I did the same. ”Earlier Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli also returned to play with the team after losing their father. When he knew about it, Fatima said, “Virat knew, but not Sachin.”