Pakistan women's cricket team captain Fatima Sana is set to return home from the ongoing ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 after her father's death on Thursday. The star cricketer is likely to miss her team's next crucial World Cup game against Australia in a major blow to her team's chances for the semi-finals berth.
According to a report from ESPNCrininfo, the batting all-rounder will miss Pakistan's next game against Australia scheduled on Friday in Dubai. Pakistan remain alive in the playoff race despite their loss against rivals India in the previous game but Sana's potential absence is likely to hurt their preparations.
The experienced opener Muneeba Ali is likely to step in as a captain to lead against Australia on Friday. Pakistan face a tough challenge to finish in the top two of Group A as they face New Zealand in the last group-stage game.
Fatima Sana's absence in the clash against Australia is a huge blow for Pakistan as she has been central to their campaign so far having scored 43 runs and picked up four wickets so far in two matches. Against arch-rivals India, Sana was instrumental in helping her team make a comeback while defending 105 runs by picking up back-to-back wickets of Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh.
Meanwhile, the race to make it to the semis is heating up in Group A of the Women's T20 World Cup. India's 82-run win over Sri Lanka has made things interesting and even Pakistan stand a chance to make it to the final four but they will have to beat the mighty Aussies without their skipper Fatima. If Australia beat Pakistan, they are more or less certain to go through thanks to their superior net run-rate already while realistically, India and New Zealand are fighting it out for the second spot.
