Pakistan, like all the Indian subcontinent, lives the game of cricket. From colonial times to arch-rivalry with neighboring India, cricket has always meant something more than a sport for the nation.
With the men of all the nation reaching new heights, it is the time to record the rise of the ladies and their brilliance on 22 yards. As India completes its Challenger’s trophy with India A, India B, and India C, Pakistan seems to have completed a similar event. Pakistan has concluded its national triangular series for the women players.
The final has concluded in Karachi. PCB Blasters have faced PCB Challengers in the national stadium. The final was telecasted by the PCB on YouTube. Countries like India and Pakistan have a different manifest of women’s cricket. In societies dominated by patriarchy, female rise to break the boundaries. Like the much-appreciated WBBL and Challenger’s trophy, these tournaments have given a stage to one of the finest talents of the nation.
Narrowing the lenses to Pakistan, the event has sent a message to fans worldwide. Players from PCB Challengers, PCB Blasters, and PCB Dynamites have shown their excellence in the field. PCB challengers and PCB blasters made it to the finals. The pre-final stages in the tournament were interesting with NRR playing a role in deciding one of the finalists. The biggest find of the tournament has been Muneeba Ali.
She has single-handedly revived the batting for her team. Challengers enjoyed her four consecutive half-centuries in the league matches. She became the first female player from Pakistan to do so. She scored 282 runs in the first four or the fabulous four innings. She led her team to inch closer to the trophy after every match. Aliya Riaz has also been successful in making the tournament her own. She has been notch above of other all-rounders. She claimed four wickets in addition to the handy 76 runs that she accumulated. Pakistani women have continued their age-old tradition of quality bowling performances. Anam Anim along with Fatima Sana has been the leading wicket-taker- in the tournament.
They took 6 and 5 wickets respectively. Second, on the spot for highest run-getters was Javeria Khan with 157 runs behind her back. It would, however, be naïve to ignore the winning captain Bismah Maroof. According to the experts, she could not give her best but the contribution of 112 runs including a winning 62 is no worse if they come with the impressive leadership that she showed throughout the tournament. It is no exaggeration to say that Pakistan has a team with a bright future and with the right path, they might put a stop to the dearth of inconsistency dominating the Pakistani team in ICC events.
A student who enjoys studying cricket more than anything else, keen to learn the insights of the women’s game.