PCB named Mohammad Wasim head coach of women's team ahead of T20 Asia Cup

Lahore [Pakistan], June 26 (ANI): The former Pakistan batter and men's chief selector Mohammad Wasim has been appointed as the head coach of the women's team for the Women's T20 Asia Cup 2024 starting next month.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in an official statement confirmed the team management for the ACC Women's Asia Cup 2024. Wasim will be the head coach, while former Test bowlers Abdur Rehman and Junaid Khan will be the spin bowling and assistant coaches, respectively.

"The players will also undergo practice sessions at the High-Performance Centre on Friday, while they will play T20 practice games at the Moin Khan Academy on Thursday and Saturday. The camp will be supervised by Abdur Rehman and Hanif Malik," the PCB said in an official statement.

The eight-team ACC Women's T20 Asia Cup will be played in Dambulla, Sri Lanka from 19 to 28 July. In the T20I tournament, Pakistan are placed in Group 'A' along with India, Nepal and UAE. Pakistan will take on arch-rivals India on the opening day of the tournament, while matches against Nepal and UAE will be played on July 21 and 23 respectively.

Pakistan has played the previous few series under interim head coach Mohtashim Rasheed, with former international cricketers Taufeeq Umar and Salim Jaffar serving as batting and bowling coaches, respectively.

The T20 Asia Cup comes at a tough moment for the Pakistan team, which has recently returned from two gruelling journeys. They won only one of eight T20Is in the West Indies and England, and went winless in both ODI series. These came after a year of extended dry spells punctuated by good results, most notably a home T20I series sweep of South Africa and becoming the first Asian women's team to win a T20I series in New Zealand.

The PCB has named a 28-member group for a four-day training camp in Karachi, meanwhile, the PCB has not yet announced a squad for the upcoming Asia Cup. (ANI)