The age-old quote by John F. Kennedy, “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan,” sums up how a team or an individual can get support from fans as well as the administration. The recent achievement of Pakistan’s women’s cricket team — qualifying for the 50-over edition of ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup with five wins in as many games — is changing perceptions about them. The team, led by all-rounder Fatima Sana, is now getting support from not only the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), but also from fans.      

It was wonderful to see the national women’s team upstaging the mighty West Indies and the fast-rising Bangladesh in the qualifying round, which was played in Lahore, to book their spot in the marquee event that will take place in India, and a neutral venue, in October this year.

With former Pakistan international batter Mohammad Wasim as their head coach, the women players showed great competitiveness, aggression and resolve to win the Qualifiers.

Pakistan beating Ireland and Scotland was routine work, as they avoided any slip-ups. But the game against the West Indies was the real test, which Pakistan passed with flying colours, thumping their nemesis by a comprehensive 65-run margin.

Led by Fatima Sana, Pakistan’s women cricketers have defied expectations, qualifying for the World Cup in style. Now, the challenge is to turn this momentum into lasting change…

Sidra Amin led the batting with 54, while skipper Fatima Sana rocked the opposition’s batting with bowling figures of 3-16, which included the prized scalp of the West Indian superstar Hayley Matthews off the first ball of the innings.

Minnows Thailand were swept away without much ado, while also cantering to victory in their next big test against Bangladesh, thumping them by seven wickets.

DOMINO EFFECT

The significance of the wins over the West Indies and Bangladesh was that Pakistan had lost four of the last five matches against each of them. Sidra Amin with 225 runs and Fatima with 12 wickets were the prominent performers.

As they say, “success breeds success”, the qualification shows that this Pakistan team promises to be more competitive than their eighth and last finish in each of the last three World Cup events. 

The icing on their cake is that Pakistan’s qualification will force India to host Pakistan’s matches on a neutral venue, similar to how India played their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai. But the real test will be to beat at least two of their seven opponents, especially India.

Pakistan captain Fatima is excited and confident about the World Cup, and credits her team and management for the success. “We had been struggling in batting, but when we went into the Qualifiers, we knew that our batting unit must do well,” she tells Eos. “Our bowling unit, which is led by Nashra Sandhu and Sadia Iqbal, was already doing well. This time our pace attack did great,” she adds.

The Pakistani skipper is also delighted by how fans have rallied behind the team. “Our fans are increasing. It’s delightful to find their support,” she notes. “It helps raise our confidence levels. We want to carry this momentum into the World Cup,” she continues.

BUILDING ON THE GAINS

The behind-the-scenes work of head coach Mohammad Wasim must also be appreciated. It did take him some time to get the best out of the players. He also had to fight against some intervention from the administration as his authority was challenged on a number of occasions. Wasim was told that two former Pakistan players will also be part of the coaching staff. Not accepting the interference, Wasim had left the job, but then he returned after being convinced that his authority won’t be challenged.   

The Pakistan women’s cricket team does not attract much attention. They have had a few good results and their progress moved at a snail’s pace. Three years ago, they lost to Thailand in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup though, in the very next game, they beat arch-rivals India. They beat Sri Lanka in the league match, before going down to the same opponents in the semi-final. In 2023, Pakistan women won a rare T20I series in New Zealand, but lost at home to South Africa and the West Indies.

So, the recent results from the Qualifiers have come as a breath of fresh air. The team in general and Pakistan women cricket deserve some rewards. When Pakistan won their final match against Bangladesh, the PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi had come to watch the match.

Naqvi was about to announce a cash award for the team, but head coach Wasim intervened and requested that the reward should be long-term. His suggestion was to give the women players a hike in their central contract earnings.

FINANCIAL FILLIP

When Mohsin Naqvi had taken charge of the PCB, he had increased the annual budget for women’s cricket from Rs70 million to Rs240 million. But the players also deserve individual raise in their contracts.

Pakistan women players placed in category ‘A’ get Rs3 million a year, category ‘B’ gets Rs2 million, ‘C’ gets Rs1.5 million and ‘D’ gets Rs1 million annually. In comparison, India’s women cricketers — apart from more finances and better rankings — get five million Indian rupees a year (‘A’ category), which is over 16 million in Pakistani currency. The other two categories (they only have three) get three and one million Indian rupees respectively.

Rewards and incentives are indeed linked to performances and successes. Now, with both performance and success coming from Pakistan women, there should be consideration for them also. That will motivate them in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. 

The writer is a senior cricket analyst.
X: @hashmi_shahid

Published in Dawn, EOS, May 18th, 2025