Sana, the Pakistan captain, became the first woman from her country to be picked by a Hundred team last month when she was acquired by Phoenix in the wildcard draft for the minimum salary of £15,000 as replacement for Australia’s Lucy Hamilton.

Sana, 24, was the only bright spark in Pakistan’s poor World Cup campaign, in which they won only one (against Netherlands) of their five matches to finish fifth in their six-team group. She finished the tournament with the most wickets for a fast bowler – 11 at an economy of 6.95. Overall, she was the second-highest wicket-taker, joint with Australia captain Sophie Molineux, with India’s N Shree Charani at the top with 14.

This will be Sana’s third overseas domestic T20 tournament after she played for Barbados Royals in the women’s CPL in September 2022 and for Canterbury in the women’s Super Smash in December 2023.

A PCB official told Cricinfo that the decision to allow her to miss the three Sri Lanka T20Is was taken so she could benefit from the experience of playing in the competitive Hundred environment.