Pakistan's Sana Mir looks forward to following in the footsteps of her hero Imran Khan

For someone who idolises Imran Khan, there is a great deal of excitement for Pakistani off spinner Sana Mir that she is going to be following in the footsteps of her hero and being part of a Pakistan squad that is playing in a World Cup event in Australia.

And while it is unlikely she will be able to lift the trophy, like Imran Khan did in 1992, she believes that by appearing in the event it can have just an important impact on the sport in Pakistan.

“Qualification for the Women’s World Cup is a big step for women’s cricket in Pakistan and the girls back home, who are the future cricketers of our country, will be really pleased that the doors are now open as if we hadn’t qualified it would have been much harder for them.”

“I think that most people don’t know the level of cricket that women are playing. The level is increasing day by day. It would be great for people to see with their own eyes that women can play cricket.

“In Pakistan the average man can’t imagine a girl can hit a six – it would be a big thing for him. If we can get more games on television and people can see the levels of fielding, batting and bowling, the game will get more popular.”

And her skipper, Urooj Mumtaz, is hopeful that the Women’s Asia Cup will be an important chance to show people back home that the team has the potential to challenge the top guns at the ICC Women’s World Cup.

“It’s a huge task ahead of us, with India ranked number two and Sri Lanka ranked in the top six. It’s a very realistic hope that we are capable of being in the Finals with India, who I am guessing will probably be the other team, considering we’ve had very close games against Sri Lanka in the previous two Asia Cups, and it was a lack of experience that let us down” she says.

So how did exactly did Sana Mir get into playing the game?

“My brother, who is nine years older than me, used to play cricket with his friends and I used to join them and this is the way I got into the game.

“It’s not that common for girls to play cricket as a profession, but I was lucky that when I started playing cricket it was properly introduced in schools and colleges as well, so it was easy for me to take up the game.”

She recently finished her final exams in Maths, Stats and Economics and is interested in being a banker as a career, although she is also passionate about social work and helps out in a school, which is a trust of her family, in her spare time.

She is also a film fanatic, listing Tom Cruise and Amir Khan as her favourite actors, with Forrest Gump arguably her favourite movie.

With Pakistan also guaranteed a place in the ICC World Twenty20 2009, the first join men’s and women’s ICC event ever to take place, there is plenty to look forward for Sana Mir and the publicity associated with the events may end the shock factor whenever she tells people what she does.

“When I tell people what I do they are surprised. People ask is there a Pakistan women’s cricket team? There’s not that publicity, but hopefully there will be, as when people find out there’s a national team they are very excited about that” she says.