ISLAMABAD: Pakistan women’s cricket team member Tuba Hassan on Tuesday hoped the green shirts will be able to take advantage of the conditions in Dubai, saying that they were quite similar to Multan, as the national squad gears up for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. 

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in the UAE from Oct. 3-20. Pakistan has been placed in Group B with heavyweights Australia, India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The South Asian nation will play their first match against Sri Lanka on Thursday before facing off against arch-rivals India on Oct. 6. 

“The conditions in Multan and Dubai are almost the same,” Hassan said in a video message shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). “We have this advantage.”

The South African women’s team beat Pakistan 2-1 in a three-match T20 series that took place in Pakistan last month. Despite the loss, cricketer Tasmia Rubab said she gained a lot of confidence after playing for Pakistan in the three-match series last month. 

The cricketer hoped she could muster the same confidence in the World Cup this month. 

“There are a lot of big teams in the World Cup against whom we will compete,” she said. 

Pakistan made a dismal start to their World Cup preparations, losing to Scotland and Bangladesh in both warm-up matches. On Saturday, Scotland defeated Pakistan by eight wickets while the green shirts lost to Bangladesh on Monday by 23 runs. 

Still, cricketer Najiha Alvi hoped the green shirts would put up a good performance against the other teams. 

“I hope we will perform well in the World Cup,” Alvi said. 

Pakistan squad: Fatima Sana (captain), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Muneeba Ali (wicket-keeper), Nashra Sundhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal (subject to fitness), Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tasmia Rubab and Tuba Hassan

Traveling reserve: Najiha Alvi (wicket-keeper)

Non-traveling reserves: Rameen Shamim and Umm-e-Hani