Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof to miss South Africa tour due to family reasons

The Head of Women’s Wing and chief selector Urooj Mumtaz has said that Maroof has approached the board to be exempted from the South Africa tour due to family reasons. "She was obviously disappointed to miss the series, but family always has to come first," Mumtaz said.

She said that a stand-in captain would be announced along with the 17-member squad on Thursday(December 31).

Maroof was a part of the training camp that happened in Karachi from December 20, 2020, before she went back to Lahore to join her family. Her last international appearance was during the T20 World Cup in Australia.

Pakistan is touring South Africa for a three-match One Day International and T20I series. The first ODI begins on January 20, 2021, in Durban followed by the second match at the same venue three days later(January 23).

The action then moves to Pietermaritzburg where the third ODI and the first two T20Is will be played on January 26, 29 and 31 respectively. The final T20I is scheduled to happen on February 3, 2021, in Durban. This will be the first international assignment of their head coach David Hemp who has been working with the players in the training camp.