Kainat Imtiaz retires from international cricket to become match referee

Pakistan fast bowler Kainat Imtiaz announced her retirement from international cricket on October 4, 2026, and will move into match refereeing after serving in the PCB National Women’s Under-19 Tournament in Karachi in August and September. The 34-year-old said she is following in the footsteps of her mother, Saleema Imtiaz, as she begins this new phase in the game.

Imtiaz leaves a 13-year international career during which she played 21 T20Is and 19 ODIs for Pakistan. She made her T20I debut against South Africa in Potchefstroom in October 2010 and appeared in her first ODI against Ireland at Fatullah, Bangladesh the following year. Over her international career she took 10 wickets in ODIs and eight in T20Is.

Her career included appearances at multi-nation events: she was part of Pakistan’s gold medal-winning squads at the 2010 Asian Games in China and the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea. Imtiaz represented Pakistan at the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup, where she played four matches, and she was named in the squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Those tournament selections feature among the noted milestones of her playing career.

Imtiaz’s final international matches came across 2022 and 2023. She last played T20I cricket against Thailand in Sylhet in October 2022 and made her final ODI appearance against Australia at the Gabba in January 2023.

The move into match refereeing carries a family legacy: her mother, Saleema Imtiaz, began umpiring with the PCB women’s panel in 2008 and was appointed to the ICC International Development Panel in 2024 as Pakistan’s first woman on that panel. Saleema has stood in nine women’s ODIs and 69 women’s T20Is and became the first Pakistani woman to officiate at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2026 after being named to the tournament’s officials panel.

Off the field, Imtiaz is balancing motherhood with her cricket work. She and her husband, Mohammad Waqar Uddin, welcomed their daughter in June 2024, and Imtiaz has spoken about the strong support she has received from her family, including her husband and mother, as she manages family life alongside her roles in cricket.

Kainat has already taken concrete steps in her new role, serving as a match referee during the PCB National Women’s Under-19 Tournament in Karachi in August and September, with PCB scorecards confirming her appointments.