Kainat Imtiaz

Kainat Imtiaz is a Pakistani cricketer who represents the national team as an all-rounder. She bats right-handed and bowls right-arm medium-fast. Throughout her career, she has competed for several domestic sides including Karachi, Sindh, Omar Associates, Saif Sports Saga, State Bank of Pakistan and Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited.

Early life and education

Kainat Imtiaz was born on 21 June 1992 in Karachi. She began her early schooling at Aga Khan School before moving to Hamdard Public School when she reached class III. After completing her intermediate studies, she graduated from Aga Khan Higher Secondary School in Karachi in 2010.

A pivotal moment occurred during the 2005 Women's Asia Cup in Pakistan. She met Indian fast bowler Jhulan Goswami at the event—a meeting that inspired her decision to become a fast bowler.

Career

In 2007, Imtiaz served as the captain and fast bowler for her school during a U-17 Cricket tournament organized by the Pakistan Cricket Board. She later traveled to Hyderabad to lead the Karachi Team in the first ever U-17 Women Cricket Tournament. After these performances, she earned selection for a Pakistan Camp in Karachi that focused on World Cup qualifying rounds. At the time of her selection, she was the youngest player among the 30 probables chosen for the camp.

She continued her leadership roles in 2008 when she captained her team in a second U-17 Women Cricket tournament held in Lahore. During that same year, she participated in Regional tournaments in Hyderabad and Lahore where her team won the competition. Her success led to her selection for the Pakistan Camp for the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia. Although she was the youngest player in the squad, she secured a position as a reserve player following a one-month training camp.

Imtiaz represented Pakistan in the Super Sixes tournament in China during 2008. She also competed in her first 20–20 Quadrangular Women Cricket tournament as a strike fast bowler for the south zone team. To refine her technical abilities, she joined the PIA Cricket Academy. There, she trained under coaches such as Azeem Hafeez, Zahid, Sajid and Sagheer Abbas.

Her career reached a milestone in 2010 when she was selected for the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. She contributed to the Pakistan women's cricket team winning the gold medal at those Games. Following her domestic success, she was recalled to the national touring party for three ODIs and three T20Is. This recall occurred after she averaged 111 from four games while recording one half-century and three wickets.

In October 2021, she joined the Pakistan squad for the Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament in Zimbabwe. She was also named to the team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England. Her participation in the May 2022 tournament followed her inclusion in the squad prepared for the Women's World Cup Qualifier in July 2021.

Personal life

The mother of Kainat Imtiaz is Saleema Imtiaz, who serves as an international umpire. On 30 March 2022, she married Mohammad Waqar Uddin.

Awards and recognition

Imtiaz was named Player of the Tournament during the 2007 U-17 Cricket tournament. Dr. Muhammad Ali Shah presented her with this prize. In that same year, she secured first position in several athletic activities including the 400M and the 200M. She also achieved top rankings in shot-put and relay race events.