Yasmeen Khan

Yasmeen Khan (born 7 January 1999) is a Namibian cricketer and a former captain of the women's national cricket team. Currently the vice captain, she plays as a right-handed batter, right-arm medium pace bowler, and occasional wicket-keeper. Early life Khan was born in George, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. She and her parents moved to Namibia when she was less than a year old, and she was raised in Windhoek. Her father is from Karachi, Pakistan, and is a cricket fanatic. Her mother is even more passionate about sports. As a young child, Khan would watch cricket on television with her father. She also played the game in the backyard at home. In 2022, she reminisced with The Express Tribune about visiting Karachi as a six year old, and seeing boys playing cricket in the streets: "... it was so intense, yet looked fun." At the age of 10, she felt old enough to become a member of the boys' cricket team at primary school, and decided to take up the game in a formal sense. Initially, Khan played for the u/13 boys team. Over time, she progressed to the u/17s, then the second team, and finally the first team. She found that playing against boys was a challenge, as they hit harder and bowled faster. They also had a lot of banter about girls playing cricket, but Khan has said that her teammates never undermined her. Her role models were Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi, and, especially, Younis Khan, who influenced her batting style. She has also been inspired by Novak Djokovic and Alyssa Healy.