If you ask a matric student to appear in an MA exam, he or she will definitely struggle, for the task will be extraordinary. You cannot sit an exam which is beyond you.
That same thing has been happening to the Pakistan women’s cricket team. They can compete in bilateral series, albeit against opponents of their standards, but when it comes to an ICC (International Cricket Council) event, they are left wanting.
The likes of Australia – winners of six of the nine T20I World Cups and when you read this could be the seventh time –, England, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand and India are far more superior.
They are superior not in terms of skill and standing, but also in terms of opportunity and facilities. England had hosted India and New Zealand as part of their preparations.
Australia hosted India to get tuned up for the mega event. Pakistan, a low stature and standings, got Zimbabwe, who were not even in the World Cup, as their bait! Ironically, Pakistan women thrashed Zimbabwe women in T20Is and ODIs with one-sided contests. But the worst part was trumpeting the wins as something “extraordinary.”
The preparation against a weak team served as a mirage! When the real test came against formidable teams, reality came to the fore.
Come the T20 World Cup in the UK, things started to unravel. Pakistan’s women’s team was never expected to beat the top nations, but two opponents were within their reach, Bangladesh and the Netherlands. If they could catch the break, then they come good against South Africa; it would have been an improvement.
Just like the ODI World Cup, where our women cricketers caught Australia napping at 77-7, they had caught South Africa by the scruff of their necks. But dropped catches let South Africa off.
The worst part was losing to Bangladesh. It was an insipid performance. Fatima Sana’s team came a cropper while chasing a modest 124. They allowed 46 runs in the last five overs through some sloppy bowling and fielding, and the target got bloated and out of their reach.
The shocking similarities between the weaknesses of the men’s and women’s teams are startling. Just like their men, women were sloppy in fielding and catching. The long-time disease of playing dot balls by men cricketers was also rife in women’s batting.
Lack of game awareness was also similar, with a small example being an experienced bowler Sadia Iqbal bowling to an outside the off-stump line without having protection at the boundary. Being the best player in the side, Fatima Sana fell short in her approach as captain.
When spinners were bowling well, she used pace in the last two overs as if it was mandatory. The case in point was the match against India when Tasmia Rubab and Fatima conceded 38 in the last two overs!
Just like with the men’s Test team, where Sarfaraz Ahmed was appointed head coach without any experience, Wahab Riaz was given the reins of the women’s team. To his credit, Riaz worked really hard but lesser skill did not allow the hard work to pay much dividends.
No matter how best a coach you appoint, the women’s team will not give good results until the skills of the players are not improved. For that, the Pakistan Cricket Board will have to restructure the system with more domestic matches, a proper League for women and opportunities for women players to feature in the foreign Leagues.
Birmingham Phoenix has done Pakistan women’s cricket a great service by signing Fatima who will further improve with her gig. PCB’s international department should also negotiate deals for other players like Muneeba Ali, Saira Jabeen, Sadia Iqbal and Nashra Sandhu which will polish them to meet international challenges in future.
There are myriad problems faced by women’s cricket in Pakistan. A conservative society like ours doesn’t allow girls to play in open fields. That reduces the pool of players, which has swelled in other countries. There was administrative nonchalance in dealing with this form of cricket, as the lack of improvement had prompted previous PCB set ups to not give the system the utmost care which is requisite for lifting standards.
Pakistan women won one game each in all the first four T20 World Cups. There was an upward trend when the team won two matches each in 2014 and 2016 under the great Sana Mir. The two Asian Games titles in 2010 and 2014 should have been built upon, but were not heeded.
The Mohsin Naqvi-led set-up has shown a serious intent to lift women’s cricket. The annual budget of women’s cricket was raised from 70 million to 240 million PKR, with more events organized to give more matches to female cricketers. The centra contracts for the players now have more remuneration than before, even after the World Cup debacle, we hear they will be further hiked.
But a lot of work is still needed. We need women players like Sana Mir and Urooj Fatima to come on board and guide the future generation of players. We need proper hunting of talent so that new players can come and be groomed.
Last but not least, we need to give respect to our women players. They should not be mocked upon for their lack of performance. With the effort of the PCB, players and coaches, we can improve results, but with patience and time.
