Nida Dar ruled out, new Pakistan captain named for next New Zealand ODI

Pakistan lose key duo to injury as New Zealand clinch commanding victory

Fast bowler Fatima Sana will skipper Pakistan in Nida's absence. The second ODI gets underway on Friday, 15 December at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

22-year-old Fatima will become the 10th captain to lead Pakistan Women in ODIs. The young bowler is herself coming from an injury, having missed their recent series against Bangladesh. She was, however, the standout player in the T20I series against the hosts, bagging the Player of the Series award. She picked up six wickets in the series at an economy of 5.60 and was the Player of the Match in the first T20I.

“It is an honor to lead the Pakistan women's side in ODIs, although the circumstances are unfortunate with Nida Dar's injury. She has been an inspiration, and I wish her a speedy recovery," Fatima said.

“We had a historic T20I series win against New Zealand, and I know the players are eager to perform well in the ODI series too. Although we didn't have a good outing in the first ODI, we are all geared up to excel in tomorrow’s game.”

Fatima has previous experience in leading, having captained the Pakistan Women’s emerging team in the ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup held in Hong Kong. She has also skippered in domestic cricket.

Pakistan have had trouble with injuries with as many as three players missing out. Apart from Nida, Diana Baig was ruled out of the remainder of the series just a day before the first ODI due to a finger injury and Shawaal Zulfiqar missed out after the second T20I.

Nida's availability for the third ODI is yet to be determined as on assessment, she has been found to display symptoms of concussion and advised complete rest for two days.

New Zealand won the first of the three ODIs by a comfortable margin of 131 runs on the back of a brilliant hundred from Suzie Bates.

**Pakistan squad for second ODI:**Fatima Sana (c), Aliya Riaz, Bismah Maroof, Ghulam Fatima, Muneeba Ali (wk), Najiha Alvi (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Umm-e-Hani and Waheeda Akhtar