Najam Sethi, the PCB chairman, made the announcement on Twitter on Tuesday night time and stated Maroof would proceed to be accessible for choice as a participant.
“It has been an honour for me to captain my nation and I really feel lucky to have led an unimaginable and hardworking bunch of cricketers,” Maroof, 31, stated in a press release launched by PCB. “It has been one thrilling journey, which has been stuffed with highs and lows, however, on the finish of the day, I’ll all the time be grateful to Almighty for offering me this chance.
“With the brand new ICC Ladies’s Championship cycle in its preliminary phases and the 2024 T20 World Cup greater than a 12 months away, I feel that is the suitable time for me to step down and assist so we have now a clean transition. I’m trying ahead to persevering with to play as a participant and taking part in my function for the staff.”
Maroof captained Pakistan in 64 T20Is (27 wins) and 34 ODIs (16 wins) however they had been capable of win just one recreation in every of the final two Ladies’s T20 World Cups – in 2020 and 2023.
Maroof had taken over the T20I captaincy from Sana Mir in 2016 after the PCB selected to separate the management, with Mir remaining the ODI captain. Mir was eliminated the next 12 months, giving Maroof the captaincy in each T20Is and ODIs. In April 2021, Maroof went on maternity go away and took a break from cricket for greater than a 12 months, throughout which Javeria Khan led the aspect. She returned in Could 2022 and took again the captaincy.
“I congratulate and thank Bismah Maroof for her companies because the captain of the nationwide girls’s aspect,” Sethi stated. “Bismah has been an inspiration for thousands and thousands of women and has been a catalyst for a constructive change. Along with her immense dedication and laborious work, she has proven that ladies can proceed to observe their passions and goals.
“She has all the time put her nation earlier than herself and that’s underscored by how she has provided to assist in smoothening the management transition forward of an thrilling and jam-packed season. I’m certain her presence within the Pakistan dressing room will proceed to be a supply of inspiration to our younger cricketers and she’s going to proceed to serve Pakistan with honour and satisfaction as she has been doing since she was a youngster.”
