The arrival of the 13-member West Indies team in Karachi has great significance for the future of sports in the country.
Bangladesh was the last foreign team that visited Pakistan in 2015. The West Indies team was in Pakistan last time in 2004. Those were the times when foreign teams’ touring the country were no news in and of themselves. Deterioration of the security situation took away such sporting delights for almost a decade until the Pakistan Super League tried to end the drought with a few matches in Lahore featuring a few international players.
As the picture of West Indies skipper Merissa Aguilleira, with her Pakistani counterpart Bismah Maroof, atop a camel does the rounds on social media, the message is loud and clear.
At the trophy unveiling event, Aguilleira had appealed to the global cricketing fraternity to return to Pakistan for cricket. She particularly mentioned the cheers received from fans, saying, “I’m urging that other teams come back to Pakistan because the people love cricket which is most important to do as ambassadors of the sport.”
Aguilleria has set a great example by speaking highly of the enthusiasm for the game in Pakistan. In the field, she is going to lead a formidable squad against the host team. Going by statistics, West Indies look favourites for being the winner of the Twenty20 World Cup in 2016 and one of the semi-finalist last year. The Pakistan team have lost six, out of nine, Twenty20 internationals between the two teams. On the other hand, the Pakistani team has played seven matches in 2018, and lost only four. The 2018 numbers show a slight improvement from that of 2017 when the team could win just three matches. Given the treatment and discrimination meted out to the women team, its performance is commendable. Whereas their male counterparts are given lucrative contracts and best facilities, the women team has remained without monthly retainers, match fees, and expenses for more than six months in the last year, mainly due to red tape within the Pakistan Cricket Board. Such hiccups are unheard of in the affairs of the men’s team. Other than social taboos, the huge difference of figures on male and female players’ financial sheets keeps the finest talent from emerging to the top-most level.
Despite the limitations, Pakistani women players have shown tremendous strides in domestic and foreign grounds over the years. From being a no-woman player nation in the 80s to having international teams and players of cricket, cycling, swimming, badminton, skiing, power lifting, squash, soccer and athletics, we have come a long way. Other than the cricket team, players like Naseem Hameed (athlete), Samina Baig (mountaineer), Hajra Khan (soccer), Maria Toorpakay Wazir (squash), Twinkle Sohail (power lifter), Ifrah and Amina (skier), Palwasha Bashir (badminton), Rubab Raza (swimmer) and Sadaf Saif (cyclist) have brought laurels and medals from international competitions. They have all competed against odds and defeated hardships to inspire other women to follow in their footsteps.
The West Indies tour will not only promote cricket, but it will also serve as a message to elements who seek to keep women from advancing in different fields. Recently, a women’s cycle rally could not get onto the track after some religious parties threatened to disrupt it. The government needs to show a strong resolve not to be budged an inch on women sports. *
Published in Daily Times, February 1st 2019.