Will try to stick to our plans in the series: Bismah Maroof on Pakistan’s ODIs against Australia

New Delhi: Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof said her side will try to stick to their plans ahead of their ODI series against current ODI World Cup holders Australia in the first of the three ICC Women’s Championship matches at the Allan Border Field, Brisbane on Monday.

After the ODI series opener, the second ODI will be played on January 18 at the same venue, followed by the third ODI at the North Sydney Oval, Sydney on January 21. The ODI series will be followed by three T20Is to be played from January 24 to 29 in Sydney, Hobart and Canberra.

“We have prepared ourselves well and will try to execute our plans to give better results in the series. We have done really well in the ICC Women’s Championship matches so far, the upcoming series against Australia is also very important. We will try to stick to our plans in the series,” said Bismah to PCB Digital.

Before coming to Australia, the women’s team held their practice camps in Lahore and Karachi where they also featured in various intra-squad matches. Since arriving in Brisbane last week, they have had extensive practice sessions which include a 50-over match against the Governor General’s XI at the Allan Border Field on Friday.

Even though the tourists lost the game, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana and Nida Dar showed their skills with the ball, while Bismah scored a half-century. Bismah sounded confident about her team’s chances of doing well in Australia.

“We had good practice sessions here at the venue. The pitches here have different bounce as compared to Pakistan and it took us time to adjust to the bounce. We were fortunate enough to get a practice game at the same venue where our opening two matches of the series will be hosted. This will help be familiar with the conditions.”

“The fast bowlers bowled well in the practice match, and they will have a key role to play in these conditions. The spinners on the other hand will need to adjust their line and length as required here. The batters need to get set on the wicket, and once they are set, it will be easy for them to score runs.”

Australia hold the top position in the ICC Women’s ODI rankings, while Pakistan are positioned on the ninth spot. In the ICC Women’s Championship cycle 2022-25, Pakistan after winning five of their six outings are second in the table behind India, whereas Australia will play their first match of the Championship on Monday against Pakistan.

Pakistan will be eyeing to carry forward the momentum after they clinched a 2-1 win over Sri Lanka in Karachi in June last year and later achieved a 3-0 sweep over Ireland in Lahore in November 2022.

–IANS