ICC Women’s World Cup 2022: Pakistan SWOT Analysis

South Africa v Pakistan - ICC Women's T20 Cricket World Cup

Pakistan is one of those teams that are considered favorites in the ICC Women’s World Cup that is being played in New Zealand. The team hasn’t played much cricket since the pandemic and qualified for the mega-event after the qualifiers were canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Having said that, they come into this tournament after winning comfortably against the hosts New Zealand in the warm-up game. Pakistan will face arch-rivals India in their opening game of the tournament on March 6.

Pakistan squad:

Bismah Maroof (C), Nida Dar, Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Gatima, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali, Nahida Khan, Nashra Sandhu, Omaima Sohail, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz

Pakistan SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Pakistan boasts some quality all-rounders in their line-up who can contribute in both aspects of the game. Veteran Nida Dar and Aliya Riaz can make a real impact on the result of the game. Dar has played 84 ODIs and Aliya Riaz is known to bat aggressively. Her pace bowling keeps the batters on the tenterhooks all the time.

Another one of their strengths is their spin bowling attack, much like Bangladesh. Nida Dar leads the way in the spin department while Anam Amin is another wicket-taking option for them. Nashra Sandhu's left-arm spin will also be useful for the side during the World Cup.

Weaknesses

Poor batting performances over the years have hurt Pakistan in the ODI format. They have two impressive batters in Javeria Khan and Bismah Maroof but the rest of the unit has struggled. If the experienced duo gets out early, it becomes tough for Pakistan to post even a fighting total.

Despite having a decent bowling attack, Pakistan fell short due to their batting on most occasions.

Opportunities

The good thing for Pakistan coming into this tournament is that almost every cricketer in the playing XI has played a decent number of matches. Their major strength is spin, so if the pitches turn out to be slow, Pakistan could suddenly become a team to watch out for in this competition.

Threats

Pakistan’s batting unit is prone to collapses very often and against stronger teams, they might end up not posting good enough totals. Also, the strike rate of their batters is not intimidating at all, which will play into the hands of the opposition teams. At best, they might end up scoring around 210-220 batting first, which is no longer a big score in women’s cricket.