Former Pakistan captain Sana Mir has blasted critics and fans who are giving a ‘sexist’ touch to the performance of the national team in the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup. Pakistan ended its campaign in the World Cup on Saturday with a consolation win over the Netherlands after losing four straight games to India, South Africa, Australia and Bangladesh. Mir said in an interview to a Pakistani media outlet that when the national men’s team doesn’t do well does anyone say that the players would be better off making ‘rotis’ in the kitchen.
“I see double standards while talking about the performances of the men’s and women’s teams. I don’t agree with the tone of the criticism. Yes the team has not come up to the expectations but just because it is the women’s team why add a sexist tone to it,” she said.
Sana, who is commentating in the World Cup, said everyone was disappointed with the team’s performance but it is the way we discuss the team is what is troubling for me.
“Even after so many years we still don’t give the required respect to the women’s team while discussing its performances.” Sana said fans and critics had to take into count the problems girls face when they take up professional cricket in Pakistan.
“Our players could not perform the way we expected. It took many years to convince everyone that Pakistan’s girls have what it takes, that they can cause upsets,” she said and also stressed that the mindset surrounding women’s cricket needed to change first.
“Until we change this mindset, we will get nowhere,” she added.
Sana also slammed the use of AI generated videos on social media by some people to mock the women’s players and spread misinformation which caused so much pain to their families.
Sana said what pained her the most was when the women’s team performance was judged by gender not by cricket itself.
She questioned that didn’t the men’s team also not fail to do well but did anyone hear such remarks about the players.
Sana said a lot of work required to be done on expanding the pool of talent in women’s cricket and organizing more domestic tournaments.
“It is true that the players know there is no competition for spots in the team and it does affect their mindset.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)