‘Leading ICC Women’s Global Development squad hugely beneficial’

KARACHI: Seasoned batter Javeria Khan has termed the experience of captaining ICC Women’s Global Development squad in England “hugely beneficial”.

The 31-year-old Javeria captained and mentored the ICC development side in a series of six T20 matches against Southern Vipers, Surrey Stars and England Academy teams as part of the ICC’s initiative of improving the standard of women’s cricket.

On the personal front, it proved to be a successful journey for Javeria.

Her contributions included a match-winning 64 off 59 balls (eight fours) against the fancied Surrey Stars. She also made an all-round contribution in the return game against the same side, scoring 40 off 35 balls (seven fours) besides a haul of two for 19 in a three-over spell.

“It was a great experience that provided great learning opportunities. It was an opportunity that I had been hoping for. Playing for a new team in different conditions was very beneficial,” she said.

“It was quite a challenge to lead a new team since we all gathered just a day ahead of the event, practiced and then played the games. I hadn’t met the players before so to lead them straightaway was tough. However, with the support of the team management we gradually overcame the challenge and as the games progressed we started to understand each other better which helped us improve our performances.”

Javeria – who has donned Pakistan colours in 98 ODIs and 91 T20Is – has now resumed training at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi after returning from England last week to gear up for the upcoming season.

She aims to utilize the experience gained in England for the national side as she focuses on achieving the milestone of 100 caps each both in ODIs and T20Is.

“I want to take that experience to the international arena. We have a busy season ahead and I want to put in practice the lessons of the tour in my game while managing my workload. The tour has given me a lot of confidence which I aim to impart in my game,” she added.