Iqbal Imam named Pak women head coach, Bismah Maroof remains captain

Lahore, Nov 13: Bismah Maroof has been retained as captain while Iqbal Imam has been appointed as the head coach of the Pakistan women's cricket team until next year's World T20 which will be held in Australia from February 21 to March 8.

Prior to the Australia event in December, Pakistan will take on England in Kuala Lumpur in the seventh round of the ICC Women's Championship. The three ODIs will be followed by three T20Is, stated the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in a media release.

Bismah, the 28-year-old veteran of 105 ODIs and 103 T20Is, was first appointed Pakistan captain in the T20I format in 2016 for the tour of England, before taking over as ODI captain post- World Cup 2017. To date, she has led Pakistan in 15 ODIs and 33 T20Is.

Iqbal Imam played 147 first-class matches from 1989 to 2005 during which he scored 6,249 runs and took 136 wickets.

He was named the batting coach in April and was made interim head coach for the recent home series against Bangladesh after Mark Coles resigned from the position.

Reflecting on her appointment, Bismah said: "It is truly an honour for me to be continuing as Pakistan's captain and I look forward to leading the side in next year's T20 World Cup."

"The team is in good shape and has produced some good performances recently. There's a great deal of talent and passion in the girls and I look forward to carrying the momentum to the World Cup."

Iqbal also expressed delight on his appointment as the head coach and stated: "Women's cricket in Pakistan is improving day-by-day and we have a lot of talented girls emerging. Our team has gotten off to a decent start this season by beating Bangladesh in T20I series and levelling the ODI series.

"There's a great potential in the side to do wonders and I aim to bring the best out of them."