Pakistan fast bowler Aimen Anwar retires from international cricket

Lahore, Aug 26 (IANS) Pakistan fast bowler Aimen Anwar has announced her retirement from international cricket with immediate effect, bringing her career to a close after representing the country at three T20 World Cups and the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Wednesday that Aimen is stepping away from international cricket after representing Pakistan in eight ODIs and 37 T20Is from July 2016 to February 2023.

The right-arm medium-fast bowler made her T20I debut against England in Southampton in July 2016, becoming Pakistan women’s 37th player to earn a T20I cap. She made her ODI debut against Bangladesh in Colombo in February 2017 and went on to take four wickets in the 50-over format.

In T20Is, Aimen took 29 wickets, finishing with 33 international wickets across formats in her 45-match Pakistan career.

Aimen was part of Pakistan’s squads at the Women’s T20 World Cups in 2018, 2020 and 2022-23. She also featured in Pakistan’s campaign at the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

Her return to the national set-up for the 2020 T20 World Cup followed the selectors recalling her after her performances in domestic cricket. The PCB had included her in Pakistan’s 15-member squad for the tournament in Australia.

After stepping away from international cricket, Aimen has stayed involved in the sport through broadcasting and has now begun another chapter as an official. She made her debut as a match referee at the ongoing National Women’s U19 Tournament on Monday, after successfully completing her match-referee induction course in January this year.

Her international career spanned nearly seven years, during which she was part of several important phases in Pakistan women’s cricket and featured alongside some of the country’s leading players.

–IANS

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