Pakistan women’s cricket has taken giant strides in last few years. Victory in the Asian Games and receiving the gold medal was a wonderful moment. It was Pakistan’s first in eight years in those games and for the Women’s team to win it was a great achievement. Pakistani women cricketers broke Pakistan’s hoodoo against India in World Cups too. The Pakistan cricket team had never beaten India in a World Cup and it was the women who did it in the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka. They have also reached No 6 in the rankings, and defeated some top sides, including South Africa, who they hadn’t beaten for 15 years. They have reached new heights. Those teams, our team would previously consider unbeatable and it would always lose to, it has started defeating them. We feel very proud that our players are receiving a great recognition and are ranked highly on the world stage. A high point for women’s cricket this year has been the live coverage of Pakistani women’s matches on national TV in Pakistan. It is a great sign and it has increased awareness of the sport. After watching those matches, a lot of women who previously hadn’t ever considered playing cricket or even known that there was a women’s team, have gained awareness of our efforts. People are also able to judge the standards at which our girls play cricket. The TV coverage is a very big step. The stadiums in which women contest the matches are open to the public, which is a very good sign. There are a lot of fresh new players taking up the sport and they certainly have the ability, but fitness is still a challenge. We don’t focus on fitness at grass-roots level, as women do not tend to join gyms in Pakistan. New women players are urged to focus on fitness as it will help them to serve the national side far better.

Courtesy: Express 24/7 » YouTube via Facebook

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