Saleema Imtiaz first Pakistani woman umpire on ICC panel

LAHORE: Pakistan’s Saleema Imtiaz has made history by becoming the first woman umpire from the country to be nominated to the ICC International Panel of Development Umpires which will allow her to officiate in women’s bilateral international matches and ICC Women’s events.

Saleema, who’s also the mother of Pakistan women’s international player Kainat Imtiaz, began her career as an umpire with the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Women’s Umpires Panel in 2008.

Throughout her career, she has officiated high-profile events under the Asian Cricket Council, such as the 2022 and 2024 ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup, the 2023 ACC Emerging Women’s Cup in Hong Kong and most recently she was a member of the playing control team for the ACC Women’s Premier Cup 2024 in Kuala Lumpur.

Following her inclusion in the ICC International Panel of Development Umpires, Saleema will officiate the Pakistan-South Africa women’s T20I series in Multan set to begin on Monday (today).

During the match, she will be accompanied by Faisal Aafreedi from the PCB International Panel of Umpires with Nasir Hussain as the TV umpire, while Humairah Farah will serve as the fourth umpire and Muhammad Javed Malik from the PCB International Panel of Match Referees will oversee the series as match referee.

Expressing her views on the development, an elated Saleema said: “I am beyond thrilled to join the ICC International Panel of Development Umpires”.

“The journey has been filled with hard work and personal sacrifices, but now, standing at the cusp of this new chapter, it all feels worth it,” she remarked, adding that this was not a win only for

her but for “every aspiring female cricketer and umpire in

Pakistan”.

Reflecting on her dream, she said that ever since her daughter made her debut for the national side in 2010, she herself had wanted to represent Pakistan at the international level.