Wahab Riaz also replied to Sana Mir slamming selectors for making 7 changes to Pakistan women's team.
The much-hyped India vs. Pakistan match in the ACC Women’s Asia Cup 2026 proved to be a complete dud and a one-sided contest in favor of the Women in Blue. This game was played on September 5, 2026, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai.
Pakistan captain Fatima Sana won the toss and chose to bat first. Muneeba Ali and Shawaal Zulfiqar added 27 runs for the first wicket, but after that Pakistan women suffered a huge collapse.
Muneeba and Shawaal were the only batters to reach double figures as Pakistan was bowled out for 55 in 18.1 overs. Shree Charani and Prema Rawat picked three wickets each, while Deepti Sharma took two wickets.
In response, though Fatima Sana picked three wickets, Harmanpreet Kaur’s 18 and 12 runs each by Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma helped India achieve the target with 7 wickets in hand and in 8.4 overs.
Wahab Riaz, the coach of Pakistan's women's team, downplayed the disaster against India after the match, stating that he thinks his side has the finest roster to win the Women's Asia Cup.
"I believe that all the players in our team are very skilful, and they just need to trust themselves. Our next match is against Hong Kong. We will go back and discuss what we did wrong against India. We will try not to commit the same mistakes. I still believe Pakistan is the best side in this Asia Cup to lift the trophy because the conditions really suit us," Riaz told reporters after the match against India.
Wahab also disagreed with former Pakistani captain Sana Mir, who had criticized the administration for completely altering the team for the Women's Asia Cup, excluding seven players. According to Riaz, the players who were left out were dismissed because they hadn't performed in a while.
“Sana Mir has her own opinion. I have nothing to do with that opinion. We have made changes with the future in mind. The players who were playing before, they have played a lot of World Cups and Asia Cups, but we weren't getting the results. So, it was time to go with new faces and bring new girls into the mix to build the team for the upcoming tournaments.
It is not about who we left behind. We have to look at the reality. The girls who were left out weren't performing at all. I think we did the right move by bringing new girls into the mix,” Riaz added.
Pakistan's qualification for the semis now hangs in the balance, and they need to win their final group stage match against Hong Kong, China.