Pakistan spinner relishing the Cricket World Cup challenge
Sadia Iqbal, placed at No. 1 on the ICC Women's T20I Bowling Rankings, delves into Pakistan’s preparations for the marquee tournament later this year.
Pakistan sealed their spot in this year’s ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup with a perfect Qualifier campaign at home.
With five wins from as many games, the hosts punched their ticket in the eight-team tournament.
Coming on the back of a stellar campaign, lead spinner Sadia Iqbal believes Pakistan are ticking all the right boxes going into the tournament set to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka starting September 30.
“We had a good Qualifier campaign, the preparation was very good for it,” Iqbal was quoted in an interview with the PCB.
“We know that the competition is going to be tough at the World Cup, with all the big teams featuring in the tournament. We are preparing keeping that in mind with practice matches, variation, etc.”
Pakistan players look back at their successful campaign | WCWCQ 2025
The Pakistan players celebrate and reminisce a successful qualification campaign to the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 later this year.
Iqbal was among the key contributors for Pakistan in the Qualifier campaign, snapping nine wickets during the tournament and finishing as their third-highest wicket-taker behind skipper Fatima Sana (13) and Nashra Sandhu (10).
The 29-year-old tweaker continued her impressive run with the ball by reclaiming the No.1 spot in the ICC Women’s T20I Bowling Rankings back in May.
Opening up on her individual feat, Iqbal said, “This obviously depends on performances. The Rankings are determind based on performances. I try and give my 100 percent and everything else is a result of that.
“It's a big honour for me to become the No. 1 ranked bowler in the world while playing for Pakistan. It's always my desire to help lift the team to new heights with my performances.
“I relish the added responsibility of the team relying more on me. It's challenging but I try and enjoy it.”
Pakistan will kickstart their Cricket World Cup campaign against Bangladesh on October 2, 2025 in Colombo.