Golden girls

Pakistan’s women’s cricket, which has had its share of ups and downs, has come a long way over the past decade.

The triumph of the Pakistan’s women’s cricket team at the Guangzhou Asian Games, where it defeated Bangladesh to claim gold, will help dissipate some’ of the clouds that have been hanging over Pakistan’s male cricketers. The tales of a team in shambles have left us all rather depressed. In this environment the emphatic win at the Asiad will lighten the darkness quite considerably. The victory was notable not only because of the ease with which it came. Pakistan’s women did remarkably well to dismiss Bangladesh for a mere 92 runs and then reach their target with four overs to spare. Performances such as the half-century scored by Nida Rashid off just 41 balls exhibited the talent that exists. But also impressive was the team spirit and the professionalism, which seemed never to falter. Pakistan’s women’s cricket, which has had its share of ups and downs, has clearly come a long way over the past decade or so. It can rise further still. There is every reason to believe that our women cricketers have the skill to defeat teams which have dominated the women’s game, including Australia.

The success at Guangzhou should act as an impetus for the sport involving women to be taken more seriously. The Pakistan Cricket Board — having not done very well in recent years with the men’s team — needs to put in more effort to groom its women’s team and players. Indeed this holds true at a wider level as well. So far, only a tiny percentage of women in the country are able to take up sport at the elite level. Many others need to be inducted, both for their own sakes and that of their country. A handful of Pakistani women athletes have in the past triumphed at the international level. There is every reason to believe that, given the requisite training and opportunity, others can do just the same. Sport has always held significance in Pakistan. It offers a means to achieve honour and a sense of pride. The fact that the victory at Guangzhou has been widely celebrated is an encouraging sign. People are ready to accept success wherever it comes and these sentiments could be built on to promote an acceptance of women in sport that has often been lacking in the past.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2010.