Pakistan Captain Fatima Sana Breaks New Ground with Perth Scorchers Deal

Dr. Annelies De Vos · 2026-10-04

Pakistan women's T20I captain Fatima Sana has signed her first Big Bash contract, joining Perth Scorchers for the 2026-27 Women's Big Bash League season. The 24-year-old all-rounder put pen to paper on a one-year deal, and she'll be suiting up for WBBL 12, which gets underway on October 29, 2026. Sana's first assignment? The Scorchers' home opener against Melbourne Renegades at the WACA Ground on October 31. Talk about a debut to remember. Her arrival rounds out Perth's overseas contingent, and the club is clearly hungry for the title after falling short in last year's final against Hobart Hurricanes. ### What the Contract Actually Means Here's where things get interesting. Sana will be available for the first eight matches of the campaign. Whether she stays beyond that depends on the Pakistan Cricket Board. If they let her skip a national training camp, she can remain with Perth. But there's a scheduling headache on the horizon: Pakistan is set to tour the West Indies in December 2026. Sana actually entered the WBBL overseas player draft back in 2025, but no team picked her. This time around, she secured the deal through direct negotiations with the club. Sometimes the draft route doesn't work out, and you've just got to knock on doors yourself. ### A Historic First (Well, Second) Sana becomes only the second Pakistani woman to sign with a WBBL club. The first? Former Pakistan captain Nida Dar, who played 11 matches for Sydney Thunder back in WBBL 05 in 2019. This will be Sana's first appearance in the WBBL, period. And it's her second overseas T20 league stint of 2026 alone. She's also part of a growing wave of Pakistani cricketers heading to Australia. Six men's players featured in BBL 15, including former captain Babar Azam, who turned out for Sydney Sixers alongside Shaheen Afridi, Muhammad Rizwan, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, and Hassan Ali. ### She's Been Around the Block This isn't Sana's first rodeo overseas. Earlier in 2026, Birmingham Phoenix drafted her as an overseas wildcard replacement for Australia's Lucy Hamilton in The Hundred. She picked up a minimum salary contract worth around $19,000 and played six matches, becoming the first Pakistani woman to feature in that competition. Before that, she played in the Women's Caribbean Premier League in 2022 and New Zealand's Super Smash in 2023. ### What They're Saying Sana was understandably emotional about the move. > "I've watched the WBBL from Pakistan and always wondered what it would feel like to be part of this great competition. To now wear the Scorchers colours, represent such a great club and walk out at the WACA Ground in front of members and fans, while being cheered on by people back home, is incredibly special. This really is a dream come true." Perth Scorchers General Manager Kade Harvey welcomed her with open arms. "Fatima is one of the most exciting young allrounders in world cricket, and we're thrilled to welcome her to Perth Scorchers for the upcoming summer," Harvey said. "A proven performer at the age of 24, we believe she fits our list profile really well and we're excited to see how Fatima executes on the WACA Ground wicket." ### The Squad Around Her Sana completes Perth's three-player overseas contingent for WBBL 12. She joins England all-rounder Freya Kemp and New Zealand veteran Sophie Devine. Both Kemp and Devine are returning after helping the team reach last season's final. That international trio will line up alongside Australian national team stars Beth Mooney and Alana King. It's a squad with serious firepower, and the Scorchers will be hoping Sana's arrival is the missing piece they need to go one step further this time around. For Sana herself, this is another step in a career that's clearly on the rise. From the draft snub in 2025 to a direct deal with one of the WBBL's most consistent clubs, she's proving that persistence pays off.