Since making her T20I and ODI debuts against South Africa in 2019, Fatima Sana has become a well-known figure in Pakistani women’s cricket. At the age of 13, Fatima began playing cricket as a result of encouragement from her brother Shehroze. She managed to live in a nation where cultural and religious customs prohibit women from pursuing careers in sports.
“My brother realised that I was a good cricketer,” said Sana while speaking to Telegraph Sport during a break in Pakistan’s current tour of England. “He told me every time, turn your arm and do some bowling. So I did and after two or three months, he chose me for a cricket academy with the boys. So after a lot of street games I started my cricket journey in the academy with boys and they were all bigger and taller than me because they were proper club members.”
She continued in the interview to say that she is motivated to advance her playing technique by the nation’s shifting dynamics. Fatima knows that her home country, which loves cricket, will benefit if her side wins. “Women’s cricket was not as popular when I started as it is now. However, after a while, it seemed as though the PCB [Pakistan Cricket Board] was supporting us much more after our women’s team defeated India in the Asia Cup or something similar in significant events. We currently have the Pakistan A team, the developing team, and the under-19 squad. Thus, PCB has now generated a great deal of cricket in Pakistan. The main issue is that men predominate in our culture, as we are all aware of.” Sana said
“A few of the boys were supportive. Some of the males did not attend due to cultural differences. When I joined the club and academy, my brother’s buddies were there, and they were really supportive,” she said. Sana entered the night competition in 2016, which was started during the holy month of Ramadan. For years, street matches have been dominated by men, but she defied the assumption that only men can play night matches.
“I was not interested in the tape ball event at the time, but my friend said it was interesting. I realised I ought to play since it was cricket. I played regardless of whether it was a hardball or a tape ball. I also won the titles of best batter, best fielder, best bowler, and player of the tournament. “When people fail to recognise that women are capable of playing, it hurts. However, many men now understand. To enable everyone to participate, those kinds of competitions must be held throughout Pakistan. And after that competition, everyone knows that we have women’s teams, so that kind of pressure really helped us develop,” she continued.
Sana has aspirations of leading Pakistan to victory in the World Cup. “Winning a World Cup and representing Pakistan in the final is my greatest dream.” And I aspire to be the best all-around player in the world. That would be the greatest accomplishment, she said.
