Kainat Imtiaz aims to cement spot in national women's cricket team

Pakistan women cricket team's right-arm bowler Kainat Imtiaz has said that she is looking to cement her place in the national team.

The 28-year-old made her debut in 2010 but could only play 12 ODIs and 11 T20Is, despite being a regular feature in national camps.

In an exclusive interview with Geo Super, the fast bowler said that the lockdown provided her an opportunity to analyse her performance and how she should move forward in her career.

“I want to make a comeback in the national team in a proper way,” she said.

“The time I spent in lockdown allowed me to keep myself focused. It helped me think about how I am going to take my career in the future and how to perform well for Pakistan in upcoming events,” Imtiaz said.

READ: Pakistan Women's pre-training camp hit by Covid-19; 1 isolated, 2 withdrawn

Imtiaz is among 27 girls to be invited in the high performance camp being held in Karachi. The camp is a bio secure environment and players have to strictly follow protocols among which is restricted movement outside the biosecure zone.

Many feared that such restrictions could become a source of stress but Imtiaz has said that she and her teammates are relieved.

“We are excited and happy to be back in the sport that we all love. I had not seen a cricket ground for over six months. So, it is good to be back playing. The PCB has made wonderful arrangements for us to make us feel relaxed” she said.

“The time we spent before coming to the camp was tougher due to lockdown, but know we can talk to each other, see each other and play with each other."

The Pakistan Cricket Board is likely to start women's domestic tournaments next month and the fast bowler believes that the ongoing high performance camp will allow players to regain their lost rhythm.

READ: After 7 months out, Javeria Khan says she's excited to play cricket again

“It is good before upcoming season so that we don’t have to start from zero when we are in field for competitions,” she said.

Replying to a question, Imtiaz said that postponement of major events like World Cup and qualifiers due to the Covid-19 pandemic was a big loss as the team was prepared for the events.

"I hope there’ll be a proper pathway for us to get ready before the events,” she said.

She also hoped that the new coach of Pakistan women team David Hemp will help players improve the standard of their game as the Australia based coach has ample experience of training women cricketers.

“He has coached some of Australia's top women cricketers. We all are really looking forward to learning new skills from him." 

READ: New Pakistan women's coach David Hemp targets World Cup title charge

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