WHEN it comes to sports, especially in this part of the world, women’s teams always have to put in that extra effort to be noticed. It was unfortunate that this effort was not reflected in the performance of the Pakistani women’s cricket team at the ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup. True, they were not among the favourites at the competition, but no one expected them to lose seven consecutive games. Sana Mir and her charges started out well with a close game against South Africa and had restricted arch-rivals India to just 169 in the subsequent all-important contest. There were hopes they would be sufficiently inspired by Pakistan’s win at the Champions Trophy some days earlier, but they were bundled out for a paltry 74. It was a sad story from thereon. Barring the West Indies game, where they ran out of luck, their performance could be summed up as lacklustre. There was the occasional flash of brilliance in the performance of batswomen Nahida Khan, Bismah Maroof and Javeria Wudood, but the brutal fact is that the team did not have the firepower or skill to excel at the mega event — because their preparedness had been blighted by a number of factors.

To begin with, we cannot remain oblivious to the lack of resources and support for women players as compared to the men’s team. In these circumstances, and against teams with far better training, it becomes a battle for survival on the field, let alone making a mark. For the girls in green to qualify for the World Cup was an achievement when one reflects on the few tours abroad, the poor media coverage and the handful of sponsors. Besides, breaking societal boundaries is a huge hurdle in itself. Having said that, the tournament has raised serious questions about Sana’s leadership. She was a shadow of her dynamic self in most games. It would probably require a Pakistan Super League for women to unearth fresh talent that could turn things around in the future.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2017