Pakistan captain also wants to improve her batting ahead of the T20 World Cup, even as she looks up to her coaches’ experience of playing in the UAE
Firdose Moonda03-Oct-2024Fatima Sana has given up and , and taken up weight training. She is now in the process of trying to elevate herself to elite-athlete status, especially now that she carries the extra responsibility of captaining her national side. Sana was named Pakistan captain in August, to add to her all-round role as the premier seamer and a middle-order batter, and understands it will take careful management to perform all three tasks with success.”I have to just be conscious about my diet and workload, and training. When I was young, I used to eat everything, but now everything has changed,” Sana told ESPNcricinfo. “I’ve shifted totally to eating salads and grills. Hopefully, if I try to manage my workload and the diet, it will help me play as best I can. I want to be able to play at my best in bowling, batting and fielding.”Sana was first introduced to the lifestyle habits of sportspeople when she was involved in the Fairbreak Invitational tournament in 2022, where she played with the likes of Heather Knight, Laura Wolvaardt and Deandra Dottin. Then, she told journalists that she noticed differences between the way the Pakistan women’s team approached their overall health and wellness, and how players from countries with more developed women’s cricketing structures did the same.Related
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“We also work on our fitness, but their level is different from ours – maybe due to cultural differences,” she had said at the time. “They take care of their diet, and I saw it during this league.”Ever since, among Sana’s social media pictures are shots of her in the gym, working on her strength, which she believes will give her career longevity. Sana has played representative cricket since she was 13, international cricket since she was 17, and among Pakistan’s seam bowlers, is already their second-highest wicket-taker in ODIs, and third-highest in T20Is. Currently, she is working on getting faster in order to be more of a threat.”My speeds are between 110 or 115 [kph] at the moment. I want to be quicker, but skilful as well,” she said, making sure to add that her small stature and height of around five feet are not a hindrance. “Shabnim Ismail is also small, and she bowled the fastest ball as well. I don’t have an excuse, and in fact, I have a proper example.”
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But Sana is also hoping to go where Ismail didn’t: up the batting charts. “My first job is bowling, but you may have seen that the Pakistan team is struggling in the middle order. So I have to improve my batting as well.”And she has. On Pakistan’s tour to New Zealand last year, Sana scored an unbeaten 90 while batting at No. 5 in the second ODI, an innings which announced her as more than just a bowler.”After that series, everyone knew that I am also an allrounder,” she said. “I didn’t really perform in batting before that. Even if people thought I was a good batter before, I didn’t show that. After that innings, everyone saw that I can survive in pressure situations, that I can bat and I can bat long as well.”Sana’s challenge as a batter is to provide Pakistan with some impetus after Muneeba Ali, their most consistent player in the top order, as she needs support from lower down. Former captain Nida Dar provides experience in the middle order, and though she has not produced a score above 30 since last September, her strike rate of 101.76 is the highest in the Pakistan side. That is a statistic Sana wants to change.”What we’ve seen is that we struggle with power-hitting,” she said. “My coach has told me that I can hit long. So I will probably be the one doing a lot of power-hitting.”That was evident in Pakistan’s most recent T20I series, against South Africa in Multan. Sana was the leading run-scorer with 101 runs from two innings, had the highest strike rate of 157.81, and hit three sixes, the joint-most in the series.”I will probably be the one doing a lot of power-hitting” – Fatima Sana ahead of the T20 World Cup•ICC/Getty ImagesSana was also leading Pakistan for the first time, and found herself as the only seamer in the opening game. Given Pakistan’s spin-heavy squad, she may find herself in that position again – especially at the T20 World Cup, where dry, slow pitches are expected to greet the teams. Most of the participating sides have no experience playing in the UAE, apart from Scotland and Sri Lanka, who were at the qualifying tournament earlier in the year.Sharjah last hosted women’s T20Is in 2017, while Dubai has only seen one series – between UAE and Namibia – played there, in 2023. Sana apart, Aliya Riaz and Diana Baig from Pakistan were also there at the Fairbreak tournament, which also held in the UAE, but Pakistan’s real advantage may come from the support staff.”Our coaches played here,” Sana said. “Our bowling coach Junaid Khan and our spin coach Abdur Rehman played here. So they will share the experience with all of the team.”Junaid played nine Tests, 20 ODIs and two T20Is in the UAE from 2011-19, when Pakistan were using the country as a home base, while Rehman played eight Tests, eight ODIs and a T20I there. That may give Pakistan a unique perspective compared to their competitors, and Sana will welcome any edge they can get. “We know that our group is the death group, but still we will try our best,” she said.Pakistan are in Group A with Australia, India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and they have to go back to 2016 for the last time they had beaten any of these opponents at a T20 World Cup. In that edition of the tournament, Pakistan beat India and Bangladesh. Since then, they have only beaten Ireland and West Indies across the T20 and ODI World Cups, and have only won one match in the last three tournaments.
“Cricket is becoming more common among women in Pakistan. Parents are starting to accept that girls can play… We see a lot of young girls playing in different sports, and this will help us grow as a nation”Fatima Sana and her side are looking to create depth in their country
It’s those kinds of numbers that have prompted so much change – including the new staff, appointed in January, and Sana’s elevation to captaincy, which, at 22, seems like it has come quite early. Her leadership experience includes three tournaments in charge of Karachi women – the domestic T20 tournaments in 2022-23 and 2023-24, and a one-day cup in 2023. They had won both T20 tournaments, and she was able to learn from one of the best.”Bismah Maroof was in my team for those three seasons, so I really enjoyed the captaincy with her around,” she said.Maroof retired from international cricket this April to end a pioneering 18-year career, in which she also became a mother, and travelled with her baby, also named Fatima, on tour. As Pakistan move on from Maroof, they are also looking to create depth, and grow the professionalism of their game, and that is what Sana hopes can be her legacy.”Cricket is becoming more common among women in Pakistan. Parents are starting to accept that girls can play, and that type [of thing],” she said. “[But] we are still far from the mentality that all parents think their daughters can play – and it is difficult – but things are changing. We see a lot of young girls playing in different sports, and this will help us grow as a nation.”