Women’s World Cup 2022: Pakistan SWOT Analysis

The Pakistan women’s cricket team will kickstart their ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 campaign against arch-rivals India at Bay Oval on March 6. Pakistan have never made the semifinals and their best-ever performance was a fifth-place finish in the 2009 edition in Australia. While the Women in Green are not the main contenders for the coveted trophy, they would be hoping for a last-four finish this time around.

Without further ado, here’s a look at the SWOT Analysis of the Bismah Maroof-led side just days ahead of the quadrennial event.

Strengths:

Bismah Maroof would be leading the Pakistan side for the second time in a major tournament. She was named the captain of the Pakistan eves for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia. However, a thumb fracture ruled her out of the competition and she was replaced by Javeria Khan as captain.

While Pakistan could not do anything exceptional in that tournament, she would have definitely learned a thing or two having captained the side under pressure and it remains to be noted that the 33-year-old had led the Women In Green at the 2018 Women’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean as well. Therefore, her experience would do a world of good for this team.

Weaknesses:

While the Pakistan team would be coming with a lot of expectations in the 2022 Women’s World Cup, they are in a spot of bother as far as their performances in the 50-overs format is concerned.

Pakistan women only have a win percentage of a meagre 28% heading into the marquee tournament and while they have been successful against the likes of Sri Lanka and the West Indies, they are yet to dominate bigger teams which is a cause of concern for them as Bismah Maroof & Co. look forward to getting rid of this dismal record.

Opportunities:

Pakistan would be hoping to showcase a very good performance in the upcoming edition of the Women’s World Cup but, some of the members in the squad are relatively inexperienced.

The likes of Ghulam Fatima, Javeria Khan, Diana Baig, Bismah Maroof, Nashra Sandhu, Nahida Khan and Sidra Nawaz had played the previous edition in 2017. Therefore, it would be a mixture of talent and experience in this World Cup.

Threats:

The Lahore cricketer has been named the Pakistan women’s captain for the showpiece event but she had last featured in an ODI game in December 2019 and last donned the Pakistan jersey on February 28, 2020, against England in the T20 World Cup. The 30-year-old was out of action for most of last year as she had taken an indefinite break with maternity leave and it was in December 2021 that Maroof had made herself available for selection to feature in the Women’s World Cup. Having played no international cricket for over two years, she could struggle in this tournament.