How I would have loved it if the title referred to men’s cricket in Pakistan. But… it is the women of the country that are bringing home the accolades.

The recently concluded ODI and T20 quadrangular series in Sri Lanka saw Pakistan as the winners among Sri Lanka, Ireland and Netherlands.

This is not men’s cricket my friend! These teams are not considered underdogs in women’s cricket. Come to think of it, Pakistan’s boys have lost to Ireland too… remember Woolmer’s death?? So why are you nitpicking? They won didn’t they? Our men just lost to “pathetic” West Indies. Male chauvinists…you know the rest ;)

Back to the topic!

The final at the ODI quadrangular, although low scoring and rain hit, saw Pakistan defeat Sri Lanka by two wickets in front of their home crowd.

It is a sort of dilemma when you consider the fact that our women were 1 for 1 in the beginning. When are we going to find a good opening pair, Man or Woman? :p .

However, a lot of credit does go to the other opener, Javeria Khan, who took control and guided the team to victory with her 63 not out.

The T20 final was also affected by weather. This final saw Pakistan face off against Netherlands women and beat them by 12 runs. The game was adjusted to 9 over’s per side, with Pakistan scoring 53 in their 9, and Netherland’s women succumbing to defeat at 41. The stars for Pakistan’s women included Javeria Khan again, Bismah Maroof and Sana Mir (Captain).

Still don’t think that they should be given credit? Then jog your memory back to 2010 when our girls won Gold at the Asia Cup. Don’t tell me you forgot that! Geo had the “Geo tau Aisay” jingle drilled into my brain because of this.

In my view, this is a huge achievement. Why? You ask. Because around 1996 when women started playing cricket in Pakistan they were given death threats and court cases were made against them.

Not just this, the government did not give them permission to play with India in 1997 and to top it all off it was ruled, based on religion, that women are not allowed to play sports in public.

I am not here to tell you if our religion allows women to play sports in public or not. I am not a religious scholar. But eventually rising up against these odds, and winning gold at the Asia Cup last year is considered an achievement.

Now you see a complete u-turn in the country’s (read PCB’s) stance. Just recently the Pakistan Cricket Board has announced the “central contract” system for women cricketers too. Hypocrisy at its best??

19 women cricketers have been given contracts of Category A, B, C and D. These include those who were part of the team that won the Asian Cup.

After reading all of this, I am sure you now share my view that the PCB should forget about Pakistan Men’s cricket and focus their energy on the more promising Women… Right?  ;)