KARACHI: Pakistan women's fast bowler Kainat Imtiaz has retired from international cricket after a 13-year career in which she played 19 One-Day Internationals and 21 Twenty20 Internationals.
The right-arm pacer has already begun a new role in the sport, working as a match referee at the Pakistan Cricket Board's National Women's Under-19 T20 Tournament, held in August and September.
Kainat made her T20 international debut against South Africa in Potchefstroom in October 2010, becoming Pakistan women's T20I cap No. 22. She later debuted in ODIs against Ireland in Fatullah, Bangladesh, as ODI cap No. 64.
She played four matches for Pakistan at the 2017 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup. She was also part of the Pakistan squads that won gold medals at the 2010 Asian Games in China and the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea, and she was in the squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Her final T20I came against Thailand in Sylhet in October 2022. Her last ODI was against Australia at the Gabba in January 2023.
Kainat's cricket career began in February 2007, when she played for the Karachi Schools Under-17 team in the PCB National Schools Under-17 Women's Championship. She made her List A debut in March 2008 and her T20 debut that July.
Her family also has a place in women's cricket officiating. Her mother, Saleema Imtiaz, became Pakistan's first woman umpire on the International Cricket Council's International Development Panel in 2024. Saleema has since officiated in nine women's ODIs and 69 women's T20 Internationals.
