Mir’s journey has not been an easy one. In a country where women’s participation in sporting activities is not on a par with global norms, due to various cultural barriers and absence of proper infrastructure facilities, Mir’s achievement deserves a lot of praise. She has often narrated in the past how difficult it was for her to make way into top-flight cricket. But despite all the hurdles, Mir came through with a series of consistent performances at lower levels of cricket before she made her mark on international cricket.
Mir was not the only bright spot in the three-match series, which ended in a draw, as Pakistan clinched the number fifth spot in the championship. Pakistani women cricketers, who were touring South Africa after a long gap of eight years, got off to the best possible start in the series, with a convincing eight-wicket win in the first game. But South Africa women roared back, with a similar margin of victory in the next encounter. The final match of the series was the most exciting which ended in a tie. At one stage, it seemed that South Africa would easily clinch victory, but tailender Nashra Sandhu’s late heroics spared Pakistan’s blushes.
Pakistan have generally found it tough being on away tours, but this series — albeit a drawn one — came as a breath of fresh air. Having said that, it’s important to capitalise on the performance in this series and turn it into something substantial in the long run.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2019.
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