Women T20 event takes off from Sunday

PCB Women’s Wing chairman believes event will improve standards.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), in collaboration with ZTBL, has launched the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Women Cricket Challenge Trophy that will take place in Lahore from Sunday.

The T20 tournament will feature six teams – Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Federal Capital and ZTBL – with all the national players, as well as budding cricketers, taking part. Divided into two pools, the winner of each pool will qualify for the final.

PCB Women’s Wing Chairman Bushra Aitzaz believed that the addition to the women cricket calendar will help in improving the standard of the country’s players.

“We not only need to sustain but improve our standards to be the best in the world,” said Bushra. “We need to consolidate the pool of available cricketers and improve on a consistent basis. This addition to our calendar is an endeavour to give our players greater exposure to competitive cricket.

“This will be an opportunity for our players to showcase their talent and polish their skills by competing against the best in the country.”

The team that wins the tournament will be given prize-money of Rs100,000, while the runners-up will be awarded Rs50,000.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2012.