Hijab Zahid, a journalist, will take over as general manager of the Multan Sultans after the departure of Haider Azhar, making her the first female general manager of a T20 franchise in Pakistan. Zahid, who is now employed by Grassroots Cricket, will become one of the very few female general managers of a Tw20 franchise anywhere in the globe as a result of this opportunity.

Pic: TwitterIn addition, Zahid, who is only 28, will take over as the PSL's youngest general manager. She has been serving as the director of Grassroots Cricket ever since the first of the year, which is the job she now holds. In addition to having a master's degree in Project Management from the University of Hertfordshire, Zahid was a media manager for Islamabad United in the past.

“An honour to join such a great franchise. Looking forward to advancing the fantastic Multan Sultans legacy & heritage, and to great cricket ahead. Onwards and upwards,” Zahid said.

"It's a lot harder to assert authority as a woman. It's culturally harder for men to take directions from a woman. We have people in this industry who haven't interacted with women in their lives through no fault of their own, especially in this power dynamic,” she added.

"So I expect we'll have a lot of conversations and workshops about having a woman in a management role here. While people are used to having women in such positions in the corporate world in Pakistan, that is less true of the sporting world. In the future, we want to train people as analysts, presenters, media managers. It will open doors for a lot of women."