Sadia Iqbal’s phenomenal rise to the top of women’s Twenty20 bowling rankings for a second time in a year proves she is the leading lady of the Pakistan women’s cricket team. It’s a reward for her hard work and notably her volition to consistently learn and improve.

The last few years has seen Pakistan women cricketers climbing the ladder, both in terms of performances and rankings. Sadia has been at the forefront, not only playing a holding role by restricting runs but also grabbing wickets. The Pakistan women’s head coach Mohammad Wasim and spin bowling coach Abdur Rehman have wisely used Sadia as an opening bowler in white ball cricket.

Sadia was Pakistan’s best bowler in the Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE, fetching six wickets in four games with a miserly economy of 5.33 runs. Along with her skipper Fatima Sana, who took 13 wickets in the ODI World Cup qualifiers, Sadia grabbed nine with her guile as Pakistan won all of their five matches — much to the surprise of women’s cricket fans and scribes. The wins over the highly rated West Indies and fast-improving Bangladesh testified to the Pakistan team’s rise.

The circumstances in Sadia’s rise were favourable. She hails from a sports-loving family from Faisalabad. Her father, Mohammad Iqbal, was a distinguished kabbadi player who represented Pakistan Police. “Sports was the daily routine of our family, as my father and then my brother also played kabaddi,” Sadia tells Eos. “So when I took up sports, there were no restrictions on me,” she adds.

The Pakistan women cricket team’s opening slow left-arm bowler Sadia Iqbal has risen to the top of the women’s Twenty20 rankings for a second time within a year. This is her story…

Sadia initially took up handball and hockey as the sports attracted her more. “In fact, I represented Pakistan in hockey and handball and in a junior championship even captained Pakistan. But once I went to see a cricket match at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, and saw Sadia Yousuf [left-arm spinner who played for Pakistan] in 2012, I caught the cricket bug,” recalls Sadia.

Just like her first role model Sadia Yousuf, she took up spin bowling. Her height and the ability to wait for results (read: wickets) paved her path. Although girls playing cricket isn’t quixotic any more in Pakistan, but the family support — with her brother accompanying her to and from the ground — was encouraging.

“Every playing opportunity firmed up my resolve to play cricket for Pakistan,” says Sadia. “It was my bowling feat in a domestic match — 1 for 10 in 10 economical overs — that caught the attention of the selectors.” Sadia then received the wise guidance of former captains Sana Mir and then Bismah Maroof.

“My role models added up,” she says. “After Sadia Yousuf, I had Sana Baji [Sister] to look up to and she guided me admirably. Then Bismah Baji helped me and encouraged me, so it’s been nice progress under their guidance.”

Besides establishing herself as a sportswoman, Sadia also graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science (Honours) in sports science. It was in November 2019 that she made her debut for Pakistan in a one-day international against Bangladesh in Lahore. She impressed with figures of 2-38 in 10 overs but had to wait for another chance till 2021. It was her magical return of 4-2-4-3 (three wickets) against Zimbabwe in an ODI that brought her back in the reckoning.

Sadia has really catapulted to fame in the last two years. Internationally, she had to keep up with Jess Jonassen (now retired) of Australia and England’s Sophie Ecclestone, but she made a name for herself by leaps and bounds.

It was in the Twenty20 format that Sadia shone brightly. Pakistan has won only three T20Is against India and Sadia has her contribution in one of them. The remaining two were played before her coming into the team. It was at Sylhet in 2022 that Sadia helped Pakistan defend a modest 138 against archrivals India. Opening the bowling, Sadia put the brakes on India’s run scoring before taking 2-24 in her four overs.

The year 2024 was phenomenal for Sadia, as she grabbed an impressive 30 wickets in 19 T20Is, including her best figures of 4-16 against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup semi-final. Her tally was the best among the bowlers of top nations. That lifted her to world number one ranking in October 2024 and then brought her back again to the top last month.

Sadia acknowledges the status as a reward for hard work. “This is a distinction for my country,” she says. “It is a reward for my hard work, which I have done over the past few years.”

Former skipper Sana Mir praises her former teammate’s success. “She [Sadia] has height and control. They are her assets. To have reached this position needs control. Her bowling action is repeatable, which is a good thing. The team management has done well by using her as an opening bowler. One of the best things about Sadia is that she will not sit on her laurels of being world number one. Whenever I talk to her before a match, she asks a lot of things, which shows her inclination to be learning all the time.”

Adding sports science to her game has also helped, says Mir. “Studying sports science has helped her understand how you need to focus and achieve. That will come to the fore when she leads Pakistan’s attack in the ODI World Cup, come September.

“We have done well to qualify for the World Cup and hope that we carry that momentum in the World Cup,” says Sadia. “We have not done well in the past World Cups but this time the morale is high.”

With her high morale and experience, the sky’s the limit for Sadia. Like Sana Mir — who recently became the first Pakistan woman cricketer to be inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame — Sadia, too, wants to be an ambassador for girls in sports.

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

Published in Dawn, EOS, July 13th, 2025