Daily Times

KARACHI: Sana Mir, former captain of the Pakistan women’s cricket team, has welcomed the idea of holding a Pakistan Super League for women, saying a local league will help female cricketers gain exposure and experience. Speaking to a TV channel, the former all-rounder stressed the need of having more teams in women’s domestic tournaments to increase the players’ pool. “I have been insisting on women’s PSL since day one; our female cricketers need such tournaments,” she said, adding that this will help them enhance their skills. Mir added that when you share a dressing room with top players from other countries, you not only learn new things but also get to understand their thought processes.

“A league like PSL for women will surely help our cricketers, there’s no doubt. If you want them to go beyond their current limits, then a locally sponsored league is inevitable,” she added. Last month, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja had announced that he aims to start a PSL for U19 and women cricketers, saying that PCB has already started working on the idea.

A major challenge would be the number of local players available for the pool. However, Mir said: “You don’t need a six-team tournament at this stage, you can kick off with four teams and gradually increase the number of teams in the league.” “There was a tournament recently held in Quetta where five teams participated. So, we can have four teams with top-level local and international players,” she said. Meanwhile, she suggested that the board can work on increasing teams in domestic tournaments. “If we continue to play with three or four teams in domestic tournaments then we won’t be able to increase our players’ pool but if we increase the number of players in domestic tournaments then new players will come in and it will give us a bigger pool,” the former women’s team captain said.