Babar Azam and Sarfaraz Ahmed requested Pakistan Super League (PSL) fans to watch and support women cricketers during three exhibition matches, set to be played on March 8, 10, and 11 in Rawalpindi.
In a statement released by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday, Babar said his wishes are with the women's cricketers.
"My best wishes are with both sides playing in these exhibition matches. This is a huge opportunity for our women cricketers, the way they are been promoted and with the involvement of foreign players in these matches, it will provide a massive learning experience to our young women players," he said.
"This will also provide a chance to our local players to learn from the foreign players and understand their game, get to know more about their experience related to the game and how they play this game,
"I urge the fans to support women’s cricket the same way you support PSL by coming to the ground and witnessing the great skills from the women players," he concluded.
Meanwhile, Sarfaraz said these exhibition matches will start a new era for women's cricket.
“As the PSL provided a chance to our local players to play this game, similarly, the exhibition matches are a start of a new era for women’s cricket, where the young girls will come forward and take this game professionally,
“The exhibition matches will provide great exposure to our women cricketers, they will gain a lot when they will play alongside the top cricketers of the world. Our male cricketers also learned a lot during the previous editions of the PSL," he added.
As many as 10 foreign players have been signed for the exhibition matches.
Amazons will feature Ireland’s Laura Delany, England’s trio of Danni Wyatt, Maia Bouchier and Tammy Beaumont, and Australia’s Tess Flintoff. Meanwhile, Super Women will comprise Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu, Lauren Winfield-Hill of England, Jahanara Alam of Bangladesh, South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Lea Tahuhu of New Zealand.
Same technology will be used to broadcast women's matches which will go live on A Sports and PTV Sports. Also, livestreaming for viewers across the world will be available on PCB and PSL YouTube channels.
Squads
Amazons - Bismah Maroof (captain), Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Areesha Noor, Danni Wyatt (England), Eyman Fatima, Fatima Khan, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Gull Feroza, Kainat Imtiaz, Laura Delany (Ireland), Maia Bouchier (England), Nashra Sundhu, Sadaf Shamas, Sidra Nawaz, Tammy Beaumont (England) and Tess Flintoff (Australia)
Super Women - Nida Dar (captain), Aimen Anwar, Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka), Iram Javed, Jahanara Alam (Bangladesh), Lauren Winfield-Hill (England), Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa), Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand), Muneeba Ali, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, , Syeda Aroob Shah, Syeda Masooma Zahra, Tuba Hassan and Umm-e-Hani
Schedule
8 Mar – 1st match, 2pm, Pindi Cricket Stadium. Shozab Raza and Saleema Imtiaz (on-field umpires), Tariq Rasheed (third umpire) and Humaira Farah fourth umpire. Mohammad Anees (match referee)
10 Mar – 2nd match, 2pm, Pindi Cricket Stadium. Shozab Raza and Humaira Farah (on-field umpires), Tariq Rasheed (third umpire) and Saleema Imtiaz (fourth umpire). Mohammad Anees (match referee)
11 Mar – 3rd match, 2pm. Tariq Rasheed and Saleema Imtiaz (on-field umpires), Shozab Raza (third umpire) and Humaira Farah (fourth umpire). Mohammad Anees (match referee)