Bismah Maroof has been retained as captain of the side till the 2020 World T20 © Getty

Iqbal Imam has been appointed as the head coach of Pakistan's senior women's national team, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Wednesday (November 13). Imam, who played 147 first-class games from 1989 to 2005, was appointed as the batting coach of the side in April 2019 and also served as the interim head coach during the recently-concluded home series against Bangladesh. He now takes over the position earlier held by Mark Coles.

Speaking of the promotion, Imam said, "It is certainly an honour for me to be appointed as a head coach for the women's side.

"Women's cricket in Pakistan is improving day-by-day and we have a lot of talented girls emerging. Our team has gotten off to a decent start this season by beating Bangladesh in the T20I series and levelling the ODI series. There's a great potential in the side to do wonders and I aim to bring the best out of them."

Meanwhile, skipper Bismah Maroof has also been retained as captain of the side till the upcoming ICC World T20, which is set to be held in Australia in February 2020. Having first taken over the role in 2016, she has led Pakistan in 15 ODIs and 33 T20Is so far.

"It is truly an honour for me to be continuing as Pakistan's captain and I look forward to leading the side in the next year's T20 World Cup," Maroof said. "The team is in good shape and has produced some good performances recently. There's a great deal of talent and passion in the girls and I look forward to carrying the momentum to the World Cup."

Speaking of the appointment, Wasim Khan, PCB's chief executive said, "Bismah Maroof and Iqbal Imam have put in the hard yards to be where they are today and I am very confident that the national women's team will thrive under them.

"Iqbal has been with the team since April and he understands the demands of the job. He has the desired skillset and was right up there amongst the candidates who applied for the job. The Pakistan team showed improvements in their T20I and ODI series against Bangladesh under him and I hope that he will be able to carry forward the momentum gained from them."

Pakistan's next assignment is in Malaysia, where they will play England in three ODIs and three T20Is. The team's performance will be reviewed after the ICC World T20 before future decisions are made as there are no scheduled Future Tours Programme or ICC commitments until the 50-over World Cup in 2021.