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Cricket makes debut in Asian Games
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Born in Pakistan, crowned in China
Women’s cricket team claims country’s first gold in the Asian Games.
Pakistan women’s cricket team, targetted for its inability to matches or tournaments, has finally managed to silence its critics under captain Sana Mir (R) following the Asian Games glory. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI:
Pakistan women cricketers created history when they won the events first-ever cricket gold at the Asian Games after an emphatic ten-wicket win against Bangladesh in the final.
Nida Rashid who excelled with an all-round show was the player-of-the-final as the team gave Pakistan the first gold in Guangzhou after grabbing silver in wushu and a bronze in snooker.
The cricket team, with an indifferent year behind them following a mixture of success and failure, continued their superb form in the tournament and, after opting to field, put up a good bowling performance to dismiss Bangladesh for a mere 92 in 20 overs.
Rashid took four wickets after conceding 16 runs off her quota of four overs while captain Sana Mir grabbed a brace. Bangladesh captain Salma Khatoon was the top scorer for her side with 24 while Rumana Ahmad, with 16, was the only other notable scorer.
Pakistan replied strongly and achieved the target without any loss in 15.4 overs with openers Rashid putting in an all-round effort, partnering Javeria Wadood at the top of the order. Rashid struck an unbeaten 51 off just 43 balls while Wadood, who smashed the winning boundary, scored 39.
“It’s the most memorable moment of my life,” Nida told Express News after guiding her team to victory. “I will not forget this win for the rest of my life. We came here with an aim to win the gold medal and I feel proud to have played an important role in my team’s victory.”
Captain hopes for bright future
Mir said the win would go a long way in promoting women cricket in Pakistan.
“I hope our triumph will change people’s attitude towards the game back home,” she said. “Parents, in my view, would feel more confident in allowing their daughters to take up the sport .I dedicate this win to the people back home and all my teammates who gave their best throughout the tournament.”
Pakistan, who were unable to make an impression in the 2010 World Twenty20 or the Women’s Challenge Cup held in South Africa recently, were boosted by the absence of India and Sri Lanka from the event.
Japan grab bronze
Meanwhile, Japan defeated hosts China by seven wickets to claim bronze in the event. After restricting the hosts to 65 for six off their quota, the winners reached the target in 19.2 overs to stand third on the podium.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2010.
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Reader Comments (64)
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Many congrats girlsRecommend
Well done all of the player and officials, congratulation PakistanRecommend
Absolutely amazing. The girls deserve all the praise we can shower on them.Recommend
So they made it. Congrats to the Women Cricket Team and their coach and related persons. At least some smile of joy on our shrink faces.I hope we will also hear some good news from our Men Cricket Team which will now play their final test match against South Africa in Abu Dhabi. The team has shown lot of resolve in 50 overs game so nothing wrong if they even loose because they were able to draw their first test match which is a triple plus point for our cricket and is also now seen as “Born Again Cricket Team”. Recommend
Waw!! Congrats…..the male team should take a leaf out of their books and play like them!!!Recommend
Great Going Ladies
you make us proudRecommend
This is unislamic. Pakistan should not participate in women’s sports. Recommend
congrats………girls………..keep it up………… u did i finally :) …….. pakistan zindabad Recommend
Congratulation to our women cricket team.you make us happy.we are proud on you.keep going like our men team.All the best of luck near in the future.Recommend
Go Ladies go!!!…You rock big time!Recommend
u did it girlsRecommend
are you out of your mind yousef ahmadzai?
Good work girls and now try to improve and do well against better rivalsRecommend
wooohooooooooooooooo! zabardust! Recommend
Well done girls! I think you could teach a thing or two to the men’s team!Recommend
great performance girls we proud of uRecommend
Zabardast! Pakistan Zindabad!
I bet Nida Dar could be a better opener (she is a good all rounder for sure) then some of the openers we have had in the mens cricket team in the recent years.
Well done! Recommend
The men’s team should definitely learn from them, despite of not having the same stature, funds, facilities and neglecting all the odds possible, they did it.
Kudos to them! Recommend
You have brought honors for our country. Done us proud. Women of Pakistan have brought honor to cricket while the males were tainting it.Recommend
Good Job girls………but Ijaz Butt sux anyways!!!Recommend
CONGRATES BABS … YOU MAKE PAK PROUD .. SALUT YOU :)Recommend
Congratulations to Pakistan’s Women Cricket Team. Pakistanis are proud of you.
Government of Pakistan should provide all sort of assistance to promote Pakistan’s Women Cricket Team.
If there are international matches held any where in the world, Pakistan should send its Women Cricket Team after proper training.
I am sure that players of Pakistan’s Women Cricket Team will earn good name and reputation for the country and will not fix the matches like the male cricket players. Recommend
WELL DONE!!!!!!Recommend
Congratulation Pakistan,,,,,,,,,,,,well played Girls.Recommend
god work & god partnership
bee smile pakistanRecommend
Fantastic! Keep it up!Recommend
Well done girls! We are proud of you!Recommend
Great job ladies! You showed that you are no less then men, in fact better! Hope more and more families come forward for women development, only then can the country’s stature rise. A VERY PROUD person!Recommend
Congrats ladies and the entire nation. The girls not only won the first gold ever in Asian cricket but the first for Pakistan for these games beating out all the males. A great day for Pakistan. I was getting tired and ashamed of some of our male cricketers.Recommend
mashallahRecommend
It’s a new dawn for Pakistani women. Recommend
Our Afridis, Asifs, shoibs,maliks, akmals, Amirs, and Butts(the player and the chairman sb both!) should learn some patience, courage, strategy, character and most of all AQAL from these brilliant women of ours! Brilliant stuff girls. We are proud of you!Recommend
Congrats sisters. May you have many more victories. All our best wishes with you. Pakistan ZindabadRecommend
Good Show Girls !!! this has helped to improve our country’s image !! Recommend
Well done,we are proud of you.keep up the good workRecommend
Thank you for giving the nation good cheer ……….. you have put a warm smile on our faces :) ……….. proud of you !Recommend
Fantastic!!! really fantastic!!! We Pakistanis and well-wishers the world over are exultant over your victory at the 16th Asian Games. Your team-work, purity of heart and the blessings of ALLAH ALLMIGHTY have given you this focussed triumph.
From every nook and corner of our beloved Pakistan you will remain in the hearts of the citizens and of course not to exclude the molvis.
From the moment of your victory the Pakistani flag has been flying high and shining in all its majesty.
Syed A Mateen sahib: this blogger agrees with you and prays that our mens cricket team learns a moral lesson from this glorious event.
With salams and best wishes.Recommend
@Yousef Ahmadzai…..what’s unislamic about a couple of women playing sport and representing their country? I think youve lost it.Recommend
@someone. Yousef Ahmadzai has thrown a ‘red herring’ for you to bite, don’t fall for it.
If Syed A Mateen can congratulate the girls and be positive, then all is well.Recommend
@Someone I totally agree with your comments, however, we have to respect what Yousef says- he is entitled to his opinon. Given that there are 37 comments and Yousef’s is one of them, that puts him in a minority of 2.7% which roughly equates to the views of the religious far right in Pakistan.Recommend
Well done girls and keep it up! But then I said ‘girls’? The story says “Bangladesh captain Salma Khatoon was the top scorer for ‘his’ side”. These are the kind of mistakes that should not appear in a paper like the Tribune.Recommend
Funny how so many of us are proud that our sisters, and daughters dress like men and play in front of an audience full of both men and women? This is all because we are no longer proud of our own Muslim values and we want so much to be like the West and other non-Muslim societies. Muslim girls should have the right to play sports by all means, but they should do it according to Islamic teachings. Take an example of Iran, where females participate in sports in accordance with Muslim values.
It is so pathetic that we must strive to excel in non-Muslim behaviour in order to be a proud nation.Recommend
Welll done. Congrats. WonderfulRecommend
great girls,,,,,,,,,……………………LADIES R BEST
if some one give me permession i will join u my age is almost 22
i have proud to become a part of pakistani women cricket teamRecommend
@nina
I fully agree with you to the extent of upholding values, which are very critical to the survival of our society. However, we must not forget that we are living in a global age where we have to respect individual choices. If a member of the women’s cricket team decides to wear a scarf on field, she has the right to do so. Similarly, if members of women’s cricket team have no qualms about playing in a ‘non-Islamic’ environment (in addition to attire), as depicted by your comment, there must be complete liberty to do so.Recommend
Not a big win I assume! Who did they defeat? Bangladesh and China? They had to win in contests like these.Recommend
We are very proud of you our sisters keep it up you have every right to fulfill the dreams of this wounded nation.Recommend
sour grapes (must be an Indian)!Recommend
well done well done well done. if SHE can do it , wats wrong with HE… Recommend
@Adnan
sour grapes (must be an Indian)!
Well Done , ladies. Heartiest congratulations. You have presented a role model for the young, women and men alike, of your country.(From an Indian)Recommend
The only thing that always ruins such victories when the government eventually jumps in and starts showering players with cash awards. And then, after a certain period of time, everyone starts complaining why our players seem to only play for monetary gain and not national pride. Just as the girls have created a new beginning, in this time of sporting doom and gloom for Pakistan, I hope we can create a precedent in case of government jumping in with cash awards as well.
Let the biggest reward be standing on the podium in a foreign land and listening to your national anthem played before a global audience. Let the honour and respect that they will get be their biggest motivator.
After all, lets not forget, that some legendary sportsmen were denied this honour and respect even after Olympic gold, for example the case of Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay who was denied entry to a whites-only restaurant even though he was the Olympic gold medal winner.
Wanting to play to improve ones financial condition is certainly not an issue, but the government with their cash awards, from tax-payers money I might add, needs to stay out of it.Recommend
@vikas ranjan I was referring to AIM above- but thank you anyway and what a refreshing change: an Indian who can actually say something positive about Pakistan! Quite remarkable given the cynical comments by Indians we are used to reading in the columns of this paper!Recommend
Well done ladies :)Recommend
Nice way to steal Gold. I pity BCCI for not sending Indian team. BCCI never batted for Indian pride. The so called richest sports body in the world, never cared about indian aspirations and respect.
Congrats to Pakistan anyways.Recommend
@ nina such a pathetic comment. u gave example of iran do u even know that they are forced to wear hijab , many women were excuted and prisoned for not wearing it?? i havent seen any iranian women in hijab out side iran . mullas have imposed hijab on them so dont give us example of iran . you should know what kind of country iran was brfore 1979.
and who are u to tell anybody whats islamic and whats not????? religion is a private matter and i hope these great ladies have better knowledge of islam than you so stop preaching ur VERSION of islam Recommend
@nina: Grow up! Or migrate to Afghanistan! Don’t entangle the liberating spirit of Islam in your myopic Talibanised version of women as mere spectacle for men and sex objects. As a player a woman is as much a player as a man. People like you drag your myopic cave mentality into Islam. So grow up!Recommend
Great job lerkioun……..:) keeep it upRecommend
@Yousef Ahmadzai, You are NO one to dictate what women should do and what not, get a life!
@nina, Bibi cricket CANT be played while wearing Burqas! Its coz of people like you n yousaf that fanaticism is taking roots so fast. Spare us your holiness!Recommend
Fantastic! While our men are putting us to shame in cricket, these daughters of the nation bring new hope of furthering the tradtion of pride and performance that once was Pakistan’s lot. It’s high time for PCB to cut the bdget for men’s cricket and promote the women’s team. I am sure these excellent players are capable of claiming the world title. Recommend
Many Many Mubarrakan for the vistory. I believe you (women) are the future leaders in evry corner. Green Shirts ROCKXX!Recommend
@ Habiba and Others
Please don’t talk in point view of religion.
In fact, Islam doesn’t allow women to go out of home then how could women play the cricket?
Lets not discuss religion here.
Cheers!Recommend
@Ammar,
The talk on religion was initiated by right-wingers in earlier posts. Recommend
Also, it’s beyond my understanding, why religion has to be dragged into every nook and corner of our lives? If you want to practice in a particular way, by all means, do it. Please leave others out of it! The day we realise this laissez faire approach, we shall embark on a progress path that no one can decelerate.Recommend
well done ladies keep it upRecommend
Thanks for making us ProudRecommend