Pakistan will travel to Belfast without Sadaf Shamas after the top-order batter tore her left quadriceps muscle during a fielding drill in Karachi earlier this week. The Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed the injury on Thursday and has drafted 18-year-old opener Shawaal Zulfiqar into the 15-strong squad for the three-match T20I series against Ireland, which begins on 6 August.
Team physio Naeem Tahir described the blow as “unfortunate but straightforward”, explaining: “A grade-two tear usually needs three to four weeks of rest before we can think about a return to skills work.” With that time-frame stretching well beyond the Ireland tour, the selectors opted for a like-for-like replacement rather than reshuffling the middle order.
Zulfiqar, capped in both limited-overs formats, last played a T20I in December 2023 before a shoulder problem curtailed her domestic season. She returned quietly at the Women’s ODI World Cup Qualifier in Lahore in March, making eight runs in two outings, but impressed coaches during last month’s skills camp at the National Stadium. “The camp gave me confidence that the shoulder is fine,” she said earlier this summer. “If another chance comes, I’m ready.”
Captain Fatima Sana welcomed the youngster’s recall. “Shawaal scores quickly in the powerplay; that’s valuable in Belfast, where the ball can stop on you,” she noted during a brief media availability.
The remainder of the touring party is unchanged. Twenty-year-old Eyman Fatima keeps her place after topping the charts at the National T20, while senior bowlers Diana Baig and Nashra Sandhu provide the seam-spin balance Pakistan have relied on in recent seasons.
All three fixtures will be played at Stormont, with the series wrapping up on 10 August. Pakistan are seeking their first T20I win on Irish soil since 2013 but, as Sana acknowledged, “we’ll have to start well without Sadaf’s experience at the top.”
Pakistan squad: Fatima Sana (capt), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Najiha Alvi (wk), Nashra Sandhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Rameen Shamim, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Tuba Hassan, Waheeda Akhtar.
