The Pakistani women’s cricket team is going through a terrifying period on the field at the Women’s T20 World Cup in England. To exacerbate the situation, rumors of conflicts and a difficult atmosphere within the team have surfaced.
Numerous posts and reports on social media and in the mainstream media indicate issues inside the team, even though the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has neither verified nor denied them.
Pakistan lost to Australia in the World Cup for the fourth time in a row Tuesday night in Leeds. The team hasn’t won a single game since arriving in Ireland before the major event, and they didn’t win the triangular series they played against West Indies and Ireland before the tournament.
In the ICC 50-overs World Cup held in India and Sri Lanka last year, where the team played all of its matches in Sri Lanka, Pakistan likewise finished at the bottom of the points table.
According to reports, captain Fatima Sana and team mentor and unofficial head coach Wahab Riaz had a heated argument about selection issues. Sana protested to senior player Aaliya Riaz’s husband staying in her room at the team hotel prior to the match against Bangladesh.
“It was on Sana’s insistence that Ali Younis was asked to vacate the room. Then, on the day before the game against Bangladesh, Aaliya and her husband went out for sightseeing when there was a team practice scheduled,” a report said.
Sana reportedly wanted Aaliya removed from the starting lineup for the Bangladesh match, but Wahab persisted on having her. Sana sharply informed Wahab in front of everyone that he was to blame for Pakistan’s defeat since he had not followed the required disciplinary procedures after Aaliya failed and Pakistan lost the match.
Groupings among the team and tense relationships between some senior players and the coaches have also been mentioned in reports. The fact that the players’ plans are not carried out during games makes the coaches dissatisfied.
There have previously been indications of issues with the Pakistani team. Similar reports of a tense dressing room atmosphere persisted even after the men’s team’s poor performance at the 2023 and 2024 ICC World Cups, some of which were eventually verified.
The PCB has made many changes to the women’s team’s head coaches over the past three to four years. These changes have included both international coaches like Mark Coles and local coaches and staff like Junaid Khan, Basit Ali Basit Ali, Saleem Jaffar, and Mohtashim Rasheed, among others.
