Women's World Cup

Despite entering the tournament with hope, Pakistan's campaign in the 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was marred by inconsistency and an inability to rise to the occasion, let alone overcome top-tier teams, culminating in their elimination after a lopsided defeat at the hands of South Africa. The team's struggles are starkly summarised in their tournament standing. The final points table shows Pakistan finished at the bottom of the group, failing to secure a single victory in their six matches.

The match against South Africa exemplified these challenges. After opting to field first, the bowlers conceded a sizeable 312 runs. The chase, though repeatedly interrupted by rain and adjusted by the DLS method, never gained momentum. Pakistan finished at 83/7 from 20 overs, handing South Africa a thumping 150-run victory (DLS) and ending their own semi-final hopes.

The outcome was consistent with pre-tournament analyses that identified batting fragility and over-reliance on a few key players as critical weaknesses. The team showed promise during the qualifiers, but these vulnerabilities were exposed against stronger opposition in the main event - South Africa being a brutal example. While external factors like rain played a role in some matches, the team's performance in decisive moments and under pressure was ultimately lacking.

But all is not hopeless. The World Cup exit underscores a period of transition for Pakistan women's cricket. With new, young leadership in captain Fatima Sana, the disappointing experience should be taken as a lesson and a clear baseline for the rebuilding process needed to make the team competitive at the highest level.

It is also worth remembering that the women's team has never reached the world-beating heights of the men's team, so the sting of the recent losses is not as hard for ardent fans. However, it would be nice to lose the perennial underdog tag, and for this, players, coaches and selectors must collaborate to form a squad that can at least consistently challenge the top teams.