Pakistan’s disastrous ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign has been marred by internal disagreements and a tense atmosphere in the team, with the media reporting friction between the players and the team management.According to reports in the Pakistani media and discussions on social media, disagreements appeared on the field after a series of poor results. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has neither confirmed nor denied the reports.Pakistan slumped to their fourth straight defeat of the tournament after suffering a 113-run defeat by Australia at Headingley in Leeds on Tuesday. The team is yet to record a win since arriving in Ireland ahead of the World Cup and had also gone winless during the tri-series involving Ireland and the West Indies prior to the tournament.According to news agency PTI, reports claimed that there was a big disagreement between the team mentor and the unofficial head coach. Wahab Riaz and captain Fatima Sana on selection issues. A report claimed that before the Bangladesh match, Sana objected to senior player Aaliya Riaz’s husband staying in her hotel room, leading to him being asked to vacate.“It was on Sana’s insistence that Ali Younis was asked to leave the room. So, the day before the game against Bangladesh, Aaliya and her husband went to visit when there was a scheduled team practice,” said a report.The same reports also claimed that Sana wanted Aaliya to drop out of the Bangladesh game, but Wahab insisted on her selection. After the defeat, Sana blamed Wahab for not enforcing disciplinary standards.
Fatima Sana admits Pakistan played ‘worst cricket’
Amid off-field speculation, captain Fatima Sana candidly admits her team’s struggles after the heavy defeat in Australia.“I think we just played our worst cricket in this game, and as a whole team we need to accept that. We need to go back, reflect and improve ourselves,” said Sana after the match.Despite the disappointing campaign, Sana felt that Pakistan’s pre-tournament preparations were encouraging.“Personally, I think we had a lot of good practices before coming here, but we still need a response from the team. That’s what we need now. Otherwise, we had some really good practice sessions and preparations,” he said.The skipper also praised the bowling unit, especially the spinners Nashra Sandhu and Sadia Iqbal.“I think our bowling was very good, especially the way we started. Nashra and Sadia bowled really well, which was amazing. We need more players to support us, because we struggled in other areas. We have good players and they can perform, but we need more contributions from everyone,” he said.Pakistan, who also finished bottom of the table in last year’s World Cup 50, will now look to salvage some pride when they face the Netherlands in their final Group A match.
