Pakistan women's team were eliminated from T20 World Cup after losing 4 straight matches.
Former Pakistani women’s captain Sana Mir had slammed the sexist tone of criticism towards the team’s performance in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 being played in England and Wales.
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.
Talking to the TOK Sports news outlet, Sana Mir pointed out how when Pakistan's men’s team doesn’t do well, no one says that the players would be better off making 'rotis' in the kitchen.
This comes after former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi stated that the Pakistan women cricketers are only good for cooking in the kitchen.
"You can't become a cricketer unless cricket is in your blood. Our ladies cook well. It's a simple matter: no matter how much progress China makes in the world, if cricket isn't in their blood, they can't play cricket. Our women cook well because it's in their blood,” Afridi said in a viral video.
In response to this, Mir stated, "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?"
Everyone was upset with the squad's performance, according to Sana, a World Cup commentator, but what worries me is how we talk about the team.
"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 account 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.
"Until we change this mindset, we will get nowhere," she added.
Sana also denounced certain people's usage of AI-generated movies on social media to make fun of women's athletes and disseminate false information that caused their families great suffering. The fact that the women's team's performance was evaluated based on gender rather than cricket itself, according to Sana, hurt her the most.
She questioned whether anyone had heard such comments about the players and whether the men's team had likewise performed poorly. According to Sana, a lot of work needs to be done to increase the number of domestic events and diversify the pool of talent in women's cricket.
"The players indeed know there is no competition for spots in the team, and it does affect their mindset." She concluded.
(PTI inputs)