Pakistan quick Kainat Imtiaz has retired from international cricket after 13 years and 40 internationals to become a match referee, following in the footsteps of her mother, ICC-panel umpire Saleema Imtiaz.
Pakistan pace bowler Kainat Imtiaz has announced her retirement from international cricket, closing out a 13-year career to take up a new one as a match referee. Per Cricinfo, she has already officiated matches at the PCB National Women's Under-19 T20 tournament in Karachi across August and September, so today's announcement formalises a move she had quietly begun.
| Career at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Role | Right-arm pace bowler, Pakistan women |
| Career span | 2010 to 2023 (13 years) |
| Internationals | 19 ODIs, 21 T20Is |
| ODI bowling | 10 wickets at 51.40 |
| T20I bowling | 8 wickets, economy 5.82 |
| Debut | T20I vs South Africa, Potchefstroom, October 2010 |
| First ODI | vs Ireland, Fatullah, 2011 |
| Last match | ODI vs Australia, Gabba, January 2023 |
| Last T20I | vs Thailand, Sylhet, 2022 Asia Cup |
| Honours | Asian Games gold 2010 and 2014; 2022 Commonwealth Games; 2017 World Cup |
In her mother's footsteps
Imtiaz had already drifted toward the officiating world before today's announcement. After her playing days she worked as a broadcaster, presenting and commentating on tournaments at home and abroad, and she has now decided to follow her mother Saleema Imtiaz into match officiating. Saleema is the first Pakistani woman umpire on the ICC's international development panel, and she has stood in nine women's ODIs and 69 women's T20Is. Kainat is the second former Pakistan woman cricketer to become a match referee recently, after Aiman Anwar called time on her own international career in August.
Thirteen years, two Asian Games golds
Imtiaz made her debut in a T20I against South Africa in Potchefstroom in October 2010 and played her first ODI the following year against Ireland in Fatullah. The medals are the headline of the middle years: she was part of the Pakistan squads that won gold at the 2010 Asian Games in China and the 2014 Games in South Korea. She also played at the 2017 World Cup and the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and her last outing in Pakistan colours came against Australia at the Gabba in January 2023, with her final T20I against Thailand at the 2022 Asia Cup in Sylhet.
The BuildXI read
The draft-game lesson here is about the margins. Kainat spent 13 years inside the game and has now moved to the side of it where matches are decided by judgment calls. Drafting a season works the same way: you spin eleven real IPL squads from 2008 to 2025, take one player from each, and the XI you build has to survive fourteen league games. The target is 14-0: fourteen games, fourteen wins.