ISLAMABAD: Pakistan captain Sana Mir has praised the ICC Women’s Championship (IWC) for the exposure it provided to her team, who finished seventh in the tournament. The 30-year-old indicated that the tournament had given the team confidence as they not only won some matches but also contested well against top teams. Pakistan finished with 14 points in the tournament, three less than sixth-placed South Africa but nine more than Sri Lanka. Pakistan failed to qualify directly for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 but will get a second shot through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 early next year. Australia, who topped the points table with 36 points, were awarded the trophy on November 23 after their last IWC match against South Africa.
“The IWC provided us with an opportunity to play the top teams outside the big events like the World Cups. This was the first time we played a bilateral series with these teams and it has surely helped us to develop faster and gave us more confidence. The team played some brilliant cricket in Australia and came close to earning a win against them. The series whitewash against Sri Lanka was a good achievement. We would like to go to Sri Lanka before the qualifiers and play some cricket there. Before the World Cup it would be great to get a couple of ODI series against tougher opposition. Our batting is consistently improving. We need to work harder on our power play, bowling and overall fielding,” she added.