Shawaal Zulfiqar wants to make Pakistan's powerplay struggles a thing of the past

Nothing comes easy in life and Shawaal Zulfiqar knows it. She made her Pakistan debut in September 2023, but since then has played only 15 internationals - 11 T20Is and four ODIs - in a brief career punctuated by injuries.

It made her appreciate the magnitude of the occasion when she made her most recent return to international cricket in Sri Lanka a month ago. "I looked to stay calm and composed and it helped me," she told Cricinfo.

The opening batter marked her return with her maiden half-century, scoring 63 at a strike rate of 153.65. It propelled Pakistan to their highest total in Sri Lanka - 176 for 7 - as Zulfiqar stitched breezy partnerships of 66 off 39 with fellow opener Muneeba Ali and 61 off 51 with Eman Naseer for the second wicket. Although her innings was overshadowed by an Imesha Dulani century which took Sri Lanka to victory, it did provide Pakistan a building block after a disastrous T20 World Cup, in which they lost to every team in their group except Netherlands.

Their openers - Muneeba and Gull Feroza - formed the third-least-prolific pair, only better than Bangladesh and Ireland, and scored at 6.47 per over. That last number, by modern batting standards, is worrisome.

As is the case in Pakistan, Zulfiqar was called up to the T20I side in the aftermath of the T20 World Cup exit as one of eight changes. The PCB, while announcing the squad, said that the changes underscored "the selectors' focus on developing and integrating emerging talent into the national set-up".

Though Pakistan lost the series against Sri Lanka 2-1 with their only win coming in a dead rubber, the three matches demonstrated what Zulfiqar, as opener, brought to the side. Following their 66-run stand in the first match at ten runs per over, Muneeba and Zulfiqar put up a whirlwind opening partnership of 90 in 9.5 overs in the second game. Zulfiqar fell only two runs short of what would have been a second half-century on the bounce. She thrashed the Sri Lanka bowlers in the third T20I too, racing to 21 off 12, to provide a solid platform to her side to knock off the 114-run target inside 18.2 overs.

Zulfiqar spoke to Cricinfo on the eve of her team's departure for the women's T20 Asia Cup in Dubai. Her replies were measured, ensuring she did not share more than needed, but that she spoke of the team's top-order struggles as being a thing of the past-tense underscored the confidence with which she was boarding the plane.

"There used to be a problem. We utilised the powerplay well in Sri Lanka and scored quite a lot in the powerplay," she said. "We want to build on that momentum and maximise the powerplay [at the Asia Cup]. We have been working on that."

Batting struggles have become synonymous with Pakistan regardless of gender. The T20 World Cup magnified the gulf between Pakistan and the other teams. Pakistan's batters averaged an abysmal 12, which was the poorest among the 12 teams in the tournament, which included Scotland (20.28), Ireland (18.90), and Netherlands (14.15). Their strike rate of 94.85 was only better than Netherlands (96.16) and Bangladesh (92.32). Grim reading, those numbers.

In a bid to make the Asia Cup better than the last World Cup, the team management - under head coach/mentor Wahab Riaz - took a unique route by arranging matches against the men's side of the Abdul Qadir Cricket Academy in the nine-day prep camp. The teams often played two matches in a day - proper 20-over fixtures instead of scenario-based practice sessions to ready the players against faster bowling and harder-hitting batters.

"The purpose behind playing against them was to help us handle pressure and prepare well for the Asia Cup, which is a big tournament," Zulfiqar said. "It was definitely challenging to play against boys as they bowl at a different pace [quicker] than the girls. But I enjoyed it a lot."

Zulfiqar's first brush with the competitive side of the sport was against boys at the age of nine when she started to play street cricket in Muridke, where she lived at the time. Her father, Rana Zulfiqar, and his elder brother, Rana Nisar ("Taya" to Zulfiqar), played an integral role in her development as a cricketer after they realised her potential. That her father was fond of the game meant she did not need to convince her family to let her take it up, a stumbling block in many South Asian households.

Upon realising the dearth of opportunities in Muridke for women cricketers, he moved her daughter to Lahore where she was enrolled in Kinnaird College, which enjoys a reputation for being a nursery for women cricketers. She lived at Nisar's house for the first two years and it was there that the foundations were laid.

"My Taya installed nets in the backyard of his house for me so I could practice," she recalled. "He used to do throwdowns at me for three hours straight regardless of the weather. That's where I learnt how to bat. My Taya is my first coach."

Soon, Zulfiqar's family followed her to Lahore and her father enrolled her at the Lahore Qalandars cricket academy. "My father used to take me to the club and used to stay there while I practiced." Her father was in the transportation business. He died in October 2025 when she was in Sri Lanka for the ODI World Cup.

Zulfiqar grew up idolising Smriti Mandhana, Virat Kohli, and Babar Azam, and there is one particular attribute of theirs which she hopes to emulate as she cements her place in the side. "They are technically very strong," she said. "They take the matches deep and win the games for their sides. I look to maximise the powerplay and then build on the momentum. I know I can help my team to good totals if I bat deep, and that's what I look to do when I go in the middle."

The first signs of her ability to bat deep and anchor the game came in New Zealand in December 2023, right before a shoulder injury - and subsequent surgery - put her out of the game for more than a year. She struck partnerships of 40 and 51 for the first and second wicket with Muneeba and then captain Nida Dar in an assured innings of 41 off 42 as Pakistan made light work of a 128-run target in the first of three T20Is. She marked her international return in the World Cup qualifiers in Lahore, but an underwhelming performance meant she was dropped.

"It is very tough to make a comeback after injury as the rehabilitation is a slow process," she said. "It was a difficult phase in my life, but you have to stay strong mentally. The only thing which kept me motivated throughout was my eagerness to get back on the field."

Now, with Feroza back in the squad, it's uncertain if Zulfiqar will continue to open the innings.

Muneeba and Zulfiqar average 49.71 as opening partners with three of their seven stands producing half-centuries, two of which were in the recent Sri Lanka series. But Muneeba has opened most often with Feroza - in 25 matches - and they have two century stands and as many 50 partnerships. They, however, average 26.29 together.

In case Pakistan put Muneeba and Feroza together at the top of the order despite the shambles of the recent T20 World Cup, Zulfiqar would be happy to go down.

"I am comfortable wherever the team needs me to play," she said. "How you approach your batting depends on the day and you have to be skilful enough to adapt rather than go in with a certain plan. When you are in control you look to dominate more, but when you are struggling you try to be on the other end more by rotating the strike.

"I look to keep it simple. I am comfortable playing both pace and spin, but what matters is how you are feeling on the day… There are nerves because this is a big event. But I will look to do as best as I can for the team."