Bismah Maroof takes indefinite break from cricket as 'motherhood beckons'

New Delhi [India], April 17 (ANI): Pakistan women's team all-rounder Bismah Maroof has announced she is taking an indefinite break from cricket as she welcomes a "new chapter" in her life as she enters motherhood.
Taking to Twitter, she wrote, "I am delighted to announce that I am entering a new chapter in my life as motherhood beckons. I would like to wish the Pakistan women's team the very best as I take an indefinite break from cricket. Request for prayers and support. Thank you."
The 29-year-old has not featured for Pakistan since the Women's T20 World Cup in Australia in February-March 2020.
She had pulled out of the tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe earlier this year owing to "family reasons" and Javeria Khan led the charge.
Maroof is Pakistan's second-most-capped women's player in ODIs, with 108 appearances to her name. Sana Mir leads the list with 120 ODIs.
Maroof has scored 2,602 runs including 15 half-centuries. In T20Is, she played 108 games, the most by a Pakistani woman and she is the top run-scorer among them with a tally of 2,225 runs. The all-rounder also has a total of 80 wickets in while-ball cricket.
On Friday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that 26 women cricketers will undergo skill and fitness training at the DHA Sports Club Moin Khan Academy in Karachi during the upcoming high-performance camp.
Head coach David Hemp, who is currently conducting a camp for the emerging women players at the same venue, will take charge of this camp once it formally commences on April 24 following a seven-day quarantine period for the players in a Karachi hotel between April 17-23, the PCB statement read. (ANI)