Much like before, the contest between India and Pakistan turned into an absolute dud of an affair in the Women’s Asia Cup on Saturday night. The Fatima Sana-led side didn’t turn up at the Dubai International Stadium, and tournament favourites India registered a comprehensive seven-wicket win in the group stage encounter. Pakistan’s batting was woeful, to say the least, as the team was bundled out for 55, failing to even play out the full 20 overs.
However, after the fixture, Pakistan women’s team mentor Wahab Riaz played down the debacle against India, saying he believes that his unit is the best lineup in the Women’s Asia Cup to lift the title.
Pakistan captain Fatima Sana showed some fight against India, scalping the wickets of Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana, but India cruised home with seven wickets in hand and 68 balls to spare. 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.
“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.
Disagree with Sana Mir
The former Pakistan pacer Wahab also disagreed with former Pakistan captain Sana Mir, who had lashed out at the management for making wholesale changes in the squad for the Women’s Asia Cup, leaving out seven players.
Riaz said that the players who were left out hadn’t been performing for a long time, and hence they were shown the door.
“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,” Riaz said.
“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,” he added.
