Few highlights for Pakistan in the Asia Cup © Tigercricket.com

We know we didn't do as well as we should have done in the tournament, but at least we managed to register one victory against Bangladesh in our return match.

There were few highlights to pick out at the event apart from my recording my first ODI fifty against Sri Lanka and Javeria Khan's extraordinary match-winning performance against Bangladesh when she took 6-8.

Bangladesh's performances were one of the stories of the tournament and I think the fact they can now compete against top ten countries shows that the women's game is beginning to become more competitive.

	Bangladesh's performances were one of the stories of the tournament © ICC

All the girls now know there is a lot of hard work to be done before the World Cup 2009 in Australia and there are a lot of places to play for now which hopefully encourages the girls on the fringes of the squad.

India really set the standard during the tournament and they are going to be a tough challenge for anybody when they play at the World Cup.

They really do have great strength in depth and the achievement of Mithali Raj in reaching 3000 ODI runs at such a young age is an incredible effort.

The fact she has had a chance to play so many ODI games though is a reflection on the fact that we need to play more international matches if we are going to compete at this level. We are going to have wait until October to play West Indies, while India, in comparison, have the benefit of going to play a series in England this summer.

As our next competitive cricket is not until July, when we are going to play a Twenty20 domestic competition, and hopefully run a batting camp for some of the leading players, I am considering going overseas for a couple of months as part of my cricketing education.

So if anybody knows somebody looking for an international skipper, good batsman, lively fielder and spin bowler for their club team in England let me know!

It would be a great experience to play abroad and I think it would really help my game as playing in different conditions can only help you become a better player.

While all of my thoughts have been on cricket for the last couple of weeks, I will now allow my mind to wander towards thinking about how I did in my dentistry exams which I finished last month.

But like the wait for my next chance to pull on the Pakistan shirt, I guess I'm just going to have to be patient.

	A good tournament for me as a batsman © Tigercricket.com

Mithali Raj

We have won all our matches and that feels great but there is no point winning all the league matches if you lose the final – for then you’ve lost the Asia Cup. So we have to maintain our focus till the end.

What has been satisfying is that the girls who are making their debuts are performing really well and that shows that our standard is higher than the other sides. Pujare Seema, who is the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 11 from four games, has been impressive. She has the slow loop of an offspinner and on a turning wicket she can give a lot of problems. With Jhulan Goswami getting 100 wickets, we now have two players – the other being Neetu David – in the side who have reached the landmark. Now I’m looking forward to other bowlers getting to that milestone – Rumeli Dhar and Amita Sharma.

I have had a good tournament as a batsman as well. At the international level, most bowlers don’t give you enough width to play your stroke. Most teams rely on stump-to-stump bowling so when they don’t give you any loose balls, you have to convert good balls in to run-scoring ones and at times play the ball on its merit. I wouldn’t say it was tough to score but it wasn’t easy either. Sri Lanka are a very good fielding side. And Bangladesh, who are playing at this level for the first time, have a very disciplined bowling attack. They have to improve in a lot of areas but they are very good for a side playing at this level for the first time. Salma Khatun, the Bangladesh captain, is a very good batsman and bowler.

The week has been really tiring mostly because the Welagedara Stadium is two hours away from the team hotel, which means we have to set out for a 10AM match at 6.30AM! And by the time we get back it is 8PM. Most of the girls just catch up on sleep during the bus drive and no one really has the energy to celebrate our wins.

There have hardly been any spectators at the matches – in Dambulla I think the Sri Lankan players’ families and friends showed up but at Welagedara, where Sri Lanka played their second leg of matches, I had expected a lot more people to come and watch because one side of the ground faces the road and people can just walk in. The only spectators were kids bunking school and college. A little bit of the footage from the matches is shown during the local news hour.

	Urooj Mumtaz shakes hands with her Bangladeshi counterpart, Salma Khatun, before a match © TigerCricket.com

Four matches, four defeats is not exactly how I imagined our Asia Cup campaign would begin. Quite simply, our batting, bowling and fielding hasn't been up to the levels that I would expect considering the ability of players in our team.

We always knew that it would be a challenge to take on the likes of India and Sri Lanka, who are two of the best sides in the world, but we shouldn't really being losing to Bangladesh. However, we have been really impressed with how they have taken the playing at this level and they should be congratulated on the impact that they have on this tournament in their inaugural appearance.

The main positive to take from the event so far was our performance against Sri Lanka in our return match. In all honesty, we probably should have won but once again our batting let us down. We know that we need to eliminate this habit of losing wickets in quick succession if we are to have an impact at the ICC Women's World Cup next year.

One of the things I have taken away from this tournament is that often games can be turned by big performances by two or three players, but unfortunately we haven't been producing enough of these during the event.

From a personal perspective I was determined to have an impact in our game against Sri Lanka and was really pleased with my four wickets and a half-century, although I would obviously have preferred it if we had won. It was a wonderful feeling to score my first ODI fifty for my country, although I wish I could have gone on to a bigger score and guided my side to victory.

Although confidence isn't as high as it could be, the team is hoping to end our campaign on a positive and hopefully gain revenge on Bangladesh.

The experience gained from playing a series of one-day matches at international level has been extremely beneficial and we are only going to get better if we keep playing international cricket on a more regular basis.

While it is important to practice hard, improve our technique and maintain our high levels of fitness, there is nothing quite like match practice and time in the middle to improve our game.

Only then, when you are in match-day situation, can you gain experience of reacting to the pressures of a game and how that can impact on your shot selection when you are bating.

Obviously there is a challenge of facing top-quality international bowlers, particularly the Indian girls, who are so accurate. But the girls are used to facing quality male bowlers in the nets so they shouldn't have to worry about pace for example.

The hectic match schedule hasn't really allowed us to do much away from the cricket, although it has been fun getting to know the Bangladesh girls back at the team hotel.

We also have to be careful about going out at night as there are lots of animals in the surrounding area. I don't have any great ambitions to see a snake while I am here.

We will have a day off today before regrouping ahead of our next fixture where I hope the improvements in performance that we illustrated against Sri Lanka will continue.

	India have won all three Asia Cups © AFP

We are playing international cricket after more than a year and everyone is looking forward to that. But it’s not like we have been idle since the Quadrangular tournament in February.

In September the new domestic season started and this year we had two-day games for the inter-state tournament and the qualifiers for the nationals. Then in February for the first time we had the Challenger Trophy for women. The board had approached us once they planned the tournament and I was happy they wanted the same format that we wanted. The games were interesting because the national players were sorted into the three teams, so it wasn’t as if 10 India players were in one side, because then you can’t really find out how good a player is.

I keep an eye on any young talent coming up the ranks in domestic cricket. In fact anyone who plays well against my team, Railways, which is the strongest in women’s cricket, is someone who soon can make it to the national side. Lots of very young girls play against us in the domestic circuit.

In the months we are off before the season begins, we usually train individually. I have Nooshin Al Khadeer working with me in Hyderabad for South Central Railways so we hang out a lot and train together as well. Otherwise, when free, I like to catch up with my cousins, go for family get-togethers because as sports persons we don’t get to spend enough time with them while touring.

The Indian Premier League has been hogging the headlines all these days but we were at camp preparing for the Asia Cup and I didn’t have the energy to sit up late and watch the matches. Some of the younger girls are very enthusiastic and keep us updated. Next year we will be playing a Twenty20 World Cup alongside men but I think it’s important that a domestic tournament be organised so that the girls get used to playing Twenty20. Earlier it was just a bang-bang format but now there is a lot more thought going in to how to space your innings etc.

Looking ahead to the Asia Cup itself, I am happy it now has four teams, with Bangladesh entering the tournament for the first time. Asian cricket is no doubt improving. Pakistan have qualified for the World Cup which means there will be three Asian sides – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka – in Australia next year and that is a good thing.

I have been to Sri Lanka twice – in 1997 and 2004 - and it’s a wonderful place but the climate is too hot to step out. However when you’re in a different country you must take the chance of having a look around. You can sit at home when you’re in India. I’d love to try water-sports but I can’t swim! But roller-coaster rides in water parks are fun so if the team is game, we could do that.

To bat alongside Brendon McCullum in the Twenty20 World Cup 2009 © Getty Images

Life has been absolutely crazy since we qualified for the ICC Women’s World Cup following our performances in Stellenbosch, South Africa in February.

The difference in interest from the media has been absolutely amazing and there seems to be a growing recognition from people within our country that there is a Pakistan women’s cricket team as well and that is a massive step forward for us.

When we arrived back in Pakistan at 4AM from South Africa, it seemed like every major news channel was there to greet us which was a really nice surprise. My only worry was how I looked on camera as I had been sat on a plane for almost a whole day, as we had flown back via Johannesburg and Dubai!

My phone is constantly ringing with people wanting to do interviews for television, radio and newspapers, which is really nice, although it has been a real challenge trying to balance my commitments as not only have I been busy with my cricket but I have also been trying to revise for my final dentistry exams which finally finished last week.

We haven’t really had a break from cricket since we came back as we have played in our domestic competition and also had some training camps to help the squad prepare for the challenges that lie ahead.

Although we were delighted to qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup, we know that we have to work on a number of different areas of our game if we are going to be able to compete with the very best at the event.

In particular, we have been focusing on how the top six batsmen can better build their innings and stop giving their wicket away cheaply, as we know we can’t afford to do that against the very best teams. Everybody in our side has the ability to do well at the top level, we just need to apply ourselves better.

To help us do this we have been playing a number of 50-over practice games, to help us build our concentration levels, although we have also done a number of 25-over scenarios as well to improve the speed at which we score runs.

We attended a training camp in Karachi and all the girls have really enjoyed having the opportunity to watch the Indian Premier League on television in the evening.

We have been focusing on how the top six batsmen can better build their innings and stop giving their wicket away cheaply © ICC

Some of the crowds have been amazing and it has been fantastic to watch some of the world’s best players score at such amazing rates. I think all of the girls will look to learn something and try and apply it to their own games, although I am not sure I will be able to hit the ball quite as hard as Brendon McCullum!

Knowing that we are going to have the opportunity to play at the same grounds as some of these players, on the same day, at the ICC World Twenty20 2009 is really exciting and a great opportunity to promote the women’s game.

Hopefully events like that, along with the Women’s Asia Cup and the ICC Women’s World Cup, will help to continue build our profile and attract more sponsorship to the sport as this is something that is needed to grow the game.

But for now, our focus is very much on doing everything we can to be ready for our upcoming event and I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead in Sri Lanka.