Web desk: The Pakistani Women’s Cricket Team has ended its rain-marred World Cup campaign without a win, but they should be proud of the effort they put in, especially with the ball.
The Pakistan team, led by young captain Fatima Sana, showed the world they belong at the top level with some strong performances in the ongoing ODI World Cup.
Fatima Sana was terrific with the ball, taking 11 wickets in 5 innings. She was well supported by Sadia Iqbal, Nashra Sandhu, and Diana Baig.
If the batters had performed well, the Pakistani team could have caused some major upsets in the tournament.
After their campaign ended, social media users in Pakistan were mocking their winless campaign.
This is nothing new for a country that ranks last out of 148 countries in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Index.
And this thing is prevalent in the cricket arena as well. Women’s cricket doesn’t get much attention in Pakistan thanks to this gender discrimination.
Apart from the social media users, women’s cricket has faced a lot of backlash from several ex-cricketers in the past as well. But the team has shown great heart and has been improving leaps and bounds.
In Pakistan, the limelight has always been on men’s cricket, but the women’s cricket team created ripples in the ongoing World Cup, especially with their performances against Australia and England, who are considered two of the best teams in women’s cricket.
Pakistan has never won a single ODI against Australia, but they were in with a chance of creating a major upset. Australia batted first against them and were reduced to 115 for 8.
Beth Mooney, in partnership with Alana King, performed a tremendous rescuing job and took Australia to 221, which proved too many for Pakistan to chase down.
If Pakistan had bowled them out under 150, they could have pulled off a monumental victory. But despite the defeat, they showed that they can hang with the big teams.
The same thing happened in their match against another tournament favourite, England. Fatima Sana led from the front with the ball and took 4 wickets for 27 runs in her 6 overs.
They stopped the England batting lineup on 133 in 31 overs. In reply, the Pakistani team was 34 for 0 in 6 overs, and they were in with a great chance of chasing the target down, only to see the rain return and watch the match get washed out.
The pattern continued against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, with both matches resulting in no result due to rain.
Of the 6 washed-out matches in the World Cup, half involved Pakistan, meaning 3 of their group-stage matches ended in no result due to the weather.
The Pakistan team struggled to build momentum due to scheduling. Fatima Sana addressed these scheduling issues in her remarks after the tournament:
“The weather did not go in our favour in the England match and others as well. ICC must arrange good venues for World Cups because we wait four years for this opportunity.”
PCB hired the services of one of Pakistan’s premium fast bowlers, Junaid Khan, as the bowling coach of the women’s cricket team, and he did some amazing work with them.
The Pakistan team bowled really well throughout the tournament, but it was their batting that disappointed.
Apart from Sidra Amin (often called Babar Azam of the Pakistani Women’s Team), none of the batters scored runs. If they had batted well, the results of some of these matches could have been different.
Sana also reflected on the poor performance with the bat. She said:
“We were very good at bowling and fielding, but our batting needs improvement. In a couple of matches, we came very close, against Australia and England, but couldn’t cross the line. That’s the main thing we have to work on.”
Despite poor results, the Pakistani team showed great fight, which they should be proud of. And it is time for the Pakistan Cricket Board to take concrete action and invest significantly in women’s cricket, both domestically and internationally.
Pakistani cricket fans, as well as the nation, must actively support them, recognising their competence and dedication.
Only with tangible investment and visible encouragement can these talented players reach new heights and deliver on their immense potential.
The onus is on all of us, PCB and fans alike, to stand behind the women’s cricket team.
