Pakistan to perform well in series vs Ireland: Fatima Sana

• Fatima Sana is confident team will perform well in the Ireland series. 
• Says India's defeat gave her confidence. 
• Asks fans to support the team by watching matches at stadium. 

LAHORE: The Pakistan women's team will perform well in the home series against Ireland, said pacer Fatima Sana confidently.

Ireland's women's cricket team will visit Pakistan this November to play a double cricket series versus Pakistan. The members of the Pakistan team are excited about Ireland's maiden tour. Pakistan will play the visitors in three ODIs and as many Twenty20 Internationals from November 4 to 16 at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

The upbeat 20-year-old pacer expressed thrill, saying that it is great to see Ireland coming to Pakistan for the first time. The confident bowler said Pakistan will try to keep up the winning momentum in the upcoming series against Ireland.

Fatima Sana regained her fitness after she missed the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup due to an ankle injury.

She said it was encouraging to see the team’s momentum in the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup. "The way we defeated India helped me gain confidence when I joined the squad for the pre-series camp against Ireland,” Fatima said, speaking to PCB Digital on the sidelines of the camp.

After her debut as a bowler in 2019, Fatima took 36 wickets in 25 ODIs and 12 wickets in 15 T20Is. In addition, she was named PCB Women's Emerging Cricketer of the Year in 2020 and ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year in 2021.

The cricketer called upon fans to support the national team by showing up at the stadium to watch the matches, saying there were also huge crowds of spectators in the matches against Sri Lanka. She hoped to see similar crowds for the series against Ireland as well.

Replying to a query, Fatima said she has a reliable bowling partnership with Diana Baig, who will miss the Ireland series owing to her injury. The team will miss Baig, but there are other able bowlers, who will challenge the opponents, she asserted.

Fatima Sana urged the Under-19 cricketers and other emerging players to come to support their team and witness how foreign players approach the game.

A five-day pre-series camp is currently underway at the National High-Performance Centre in Lahore. The ODI and T20I squads are busy training at the camp. 

Schedule:

4 November – First ODI

6 November – Second ODI

9 November – Third ODI

12 November – First T20I

14 November – Second T20I

16 November – Third T20I