Unusual! Pakistan women's team plays T20s against men's side
What's the story
In an unusual move, the Pakistan women's cricket team has played T20 matches against a men's side to prepare for the upcoming Women's Asia Cup. The unique strategy was employed as part of their pre-tournament camp at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. The team, captained by Fatima Sana, will be heading to Dubai for the continental tournament starting August 28.
Past records
Pakistan women have never won the Women's Asia Cup
Pakistan has never won the Women's Asia Cup, with their closest attempts coming in 2012 and 2016 when they reached the finals.
On both occasions, they lost to India.
It's been a decade since Pakistan last made it to the final, having been eliminated in the semi-finals of the last two editions.
Training strategy
Pakistan played full T20 matches, not scenario-based practice games
The matches against the men's team of Abdul Qadir Cricket Academy were played under full Twenty20 rules, not as scenario-based practice games.
The idea was to expose the players to more pressure and improve their decision-making in key moments against a tougher opponent.
Captain Fatima Sana said these competitive matches helped them prepare for the challenges ahead in the tournament.
Previous performance
Pakistan women had a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign
Pakistan heads into the continental championship on the back of a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign, where they managed just one win in five matches.
Their only victory came against the Netherlands, while they narrowly lost to South Africa and Bangladesh and were heavily tested by stronger opponents such as India and Australia.
Star performance
Fatima Sana was in fine form at T20 World Cup
Despite Pakistan's disappointing run in the T20 World Cup, captain Fatima Sana stood out with an unbeaten 55 against South Africa.
She ended the tournament with 11 wickets, the second-most in the competition.
Fatima stressed that handling pressure was a major focus during their preparations for the Asia Cup and these matches have helped them on that front.
Upcoming matches
Captain Fatima Sana missed the Sri Lanka series
Fatima will return to action at the Asia Cup after missing Pakistan's recent series against Sri Lanka while playing in The Hundred.
Pakistan has been placed in Group A with India, Thailand, and Hong Kong. They will start their campaign against Thailand on September 1, take on India on September 5, and finish their group-stage matches against Hong Kong on September 7.