Pakistan’s dependable batswoman, Bismah Maroof’s potential was spotted when she was a budding teenager. She wore the green shirt at only 15 years of age. Her first major break came in 2009. At the age of only 18, she made it to Pakistan’s squad for the ninth edition of the ICC Women’s World Cup.
Early Life & Major Teams
Maroof was born in Lahore, Punjab on 18th July, 1991. She had always been inclined towards cricket. She has played for teams like Lahore Under-19s Women, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited Women, ZTBL Women, Central Zone Blues Women, Pakistan Universities Women and the Crescent Club.
Domestic Career
Bismah Maroof’s first List A match was on the 2nd of February, 2007, at Regional Cricket Academy, Karachi. She featured in the game playing for Pakistan Women, against The Rest. Opening the innings, Maroof could only accumulate 9 runs, before Zaiba Mansoor caught her leg before wicket.
Her last list A game was held 5 years ago. In the Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah Women Cricket Championship Seniors 2014, she played for Lahore Women in the final against Karachi Women. Chasing a target of 223, Maroof played a match-winning knock of unbeaten 84. She also bowled a couple of overs in that match.
International Career
At the tender age of 15, Maroof was included in the Pakistani side to face their arch-rivals India. She proved her mettle in the very first game. While the entire batting lineup collapsed in front of the Indian bowling lineup, Maroof stood firm and played a heroic knock of 43 runs.
Baning on her efforts, Pakistan managed to reach a somewhat respectable score of 159. Her first T20I match was against Ireland at the Observatory Lane in Rathmines, Dublin, in 2009. Unlike her ODI debut, Maroof couldn’t produce magic on her debut in the shortest format of the game. She could only manage to score 5 runs, before Marianne Herbert knocked the stumps off.
She was a part of both the Pakistan side that played in the 2009 ICC Women’s World Cup, and the side that won the gold medal at the Asian Games in 2010. At the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea, Maroof was the vice-captain of the team that won the gold medal. She was always known for his temperament and leadership skills. Hence, the team management thought it would be the best possible option when they handed her the captaincy in 2017.
Under her leadership, Pakistan completed a whitewash against Sri Lanka, and also won their first ever ODI against New Zealand. She has since captained Pakistan in the 2018 Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup and the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20.
Stats and Centuries
In 108 ODI matches, Maroof has scored 2602 runs at an average of just under 30. Her strike rate in ODIs is over 50. In T20Is, she has accumulated 2183 runs in 106 games at an average of 27. Her strike rate is almost run-a-ball.
She is yet to score a century wearing the green shirt. However, she has often come close. Maroof has struck as many as 25 international centuries. Unfortunately, none of those half-tons were converted to centuries. She has taken 44 wickets in ODIs and 36 wickets in T20Is.
