Fatima Sana reiterates commitment to attacking cricket as India look to start fresh
Fatima Sana has vowed to continue playing attacking cricket when Pakistan face arch-rivals India in the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
A day ahead of the historic India-Pakistan clash, captain Fatima Sana spoke confidently of sticking to the brand of attacking cricket that the team has adopted.
“I have seen that every team we have faced, they have played attacking cricket,” Sana said while discussing the match.
“As a bowler, I always felt that whoever bowled against us tried to hit us with the first ball. I wanted our team to have batsmen who bowled first. We have done a lot of work on this, and hopefully you will see the result soon.”
Sana made a final push to Pakistan’s total with a 20-ball 30 in his first match against Sri Lanka at number seven.
The innings proved decisive as Pakistan defeated their Asian rivals, and Sana became the second youngest captain to win a match in the Women’s T20 World Cup, after Meg Lanning.
The skipper spoke of his aspirations to become an all-rounder and praised the power-hitting coach, who has overseen Pakistan’s new batting approach in T20s.
“I always wanted to be the number one all-rounder, because of course bowling is a team sport, but when you do everything well, the team wins, even if you are good at fielding,” Sana said.
“That’s why I will always try to improve my batting as well. Our power hitting coach has helped a lot of girls. I think all the credit should go to him because he made us believe that you can become an all-rounder.”
“If you look at the last series in South Africa, a lot of our girls have improved in power hitting.”
“I think the girls believe that even if the fielders are standing back, they can still hit sixes. It’s good that all the girls have that confidence. Personally, I used to bat a lot earlier. , but I didn’t know if I could hit or not, but now it’s a lot easier with that confidence.”
India, on the other hand, will be hoping for a fresh start after losing to New Zealand in their opening match. Although time is tight, bowling coach Avishekar Salvi allayed any concerns.
“When we prepare for a campaign like the World Cup, there will be back-to-back matches, so each team will have its strengths and weaknesses,” Salvi said at the press conference.
“So, as a bowling unit, a batting unit, and a fielding unit, we make our plans and go out and try to execute them.”
Although the bowling unit did not perform at its best in its last match, Salvi considered it a matter of time and supported the bowlers to stick to their plans and perform.
“It’s basically about believing in your processes and what has worked for you so far. I said certain things are working for you; that’s what we go with.”
“And for the bowling unit, of course they have to stay strong and united and focus on the challenges that will come before them.
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“Also, let them go with, I mean, whatever they’ve been following so far, which has been working well for them. So, it’s just an odd match where maybe somebody gave away runs. I am.”
With only four matches to go in the group stage, India knows that it could be very worrying if they suffer another hiccup. India have lost just three of their 15 T20I matches against Pakistan, while the two teams last met in the Women’s Asia Cup this year when India won by seven wickets.
