Sadia Iqbal replaces Fatima Sana in Pakistan squad for women's T20 event at Asian Games

Lahore, Sep 16 (IANS) Left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal has replaced fast-bowling all-rounder Fatima Sana in Pakistan’s 15-member squad for women’s T20 event in the upcoming 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

As per the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Fatima picked up a niggle during the second ODI against South Africa at the National Bank Stadium on September 11 and was rested in the third ODI against South Africa on September 14.

She later underwent an MRI where the scans and the subsequent assessment by the PCB medical panel concluded that the fast bowler suffered injury in her right thigh which resulted in her unavailability to the side for 19th Asian Games. Sadia, 28, will join the squad in China after approval from the technical committee of the Asian Games.

Pakistan, led by Nida Dar, will travel to China from Lahore via Doha later on Saturday in a bid to attain a gold medal in the Asian Games for the third time in a row. As per the ICC T20I rankings and tournament rules, Pakistan will feature in the quarter-finals stage scheduled to take place on September 21 and 22.

The semi-finals will be played on September 24, while the final and bronze medal match will take place on September 25. All matches will be played at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field in Hangzhou, China.

Meanwhile, fast-bowling all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar is set to replace left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani, in the India women's squad for the Asian Games. Though an official word is yet to come, as per the latest list of Indian athletes travelling to China issued by the sports ministry, Pooja was named instead of Anjali.

Pooja was originally named as a reserve player, with Anjali in the main squad. The Indian women’s team are currently in the camp for the Asian Games in Bengaluru, with the China-bound squad also set to play a practice match on Saturday.

India could be captained by Smriti Mandhana, with Harmanpreet Kaur missing out on first two matches due to two-match ban for her on-field outburst during the tied ODI against Bangladesh in July.