At an age when most women in Pakistan are settling down to married life, Qanita Jalil is preparing for what could be her last shot at making her name as a cricketer in her conservative homeland.
“I am 27 and my mother is now pressurizing me to get married. It might be my last tournament,” said Jalil, as she looked forward to taking part in the women’s World Cup in Australia, which starts on Saturday.
Proudly sporting her green Pakistani track suit after a spell of fast bowling at the team’s training camp before setting off for Australia on Sunday, Jalil said her five brothers had encouraged her to play cricket.
PHOTO: AFP
“They all supported me. I started playing with my brothers and learned from them. Without their encouragement my parents would not have tolerated my playing cricket,” said Jalil, who has a masters degree in economics.
While their male counterparts are idolized and earn millions, women’s cricket in Pakistan is still an amateur sport. Playing opportunities and training facilities are scarce for girls.
Jalil belongs to a moderate Pashtun family from Abbotabad in North West Frontier Province, a region which, despite being rocked by violence and fighting between Islamic militants and security forces, has provided a steady flow of quality cricketers to the national men’s team.
In a country where people struggle to balance a lifestyle based on Islamic values and moderate liberalism, cricket remains a binding force for many, but religious parties and conservatives have frowned upon women competing with men in sports.
Girls and women have had to follow a strict code and play before female-only crowds.
“In Pakistan, it does not matter which background you come from, but it is a long struggle to gain recognition as an athlete. No one takes women’s sports seriously,” team captain Urooj Mumtaz said.
The Pakistan team, which qualified for the World Cup last year in South Africa, is an interesting blend of women from privileged backgrounds and big cities and those from smaller towns and conservative families.
They all faced the same problem of having to win the support of their parents and male relatives to allow them to play sport.
Mumtaz, a dentist, said her players saw cricket and the World Cup as a means of becoming more independent and being taken seriously as sportswomen.
There has been women’s cricket in Pakistan since the 1980s, but this will be the team’s first official World Cup appearance. A team not recognized by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) competed in 1997 and finished bottom of their group.
Pakistan defeated Ireland, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe and Scotland in last year’s qualifying tournament, before losing to South Africa in the final.
Their success generated a wave of media interest at home.
“Cricket is equally popular among girls and boys in Pakistan and the number of girls now playing cricket has increased by hundreds in the last two years,” said Shireen Javed, head of the PCB’s women’s wing.
Almas Akram, who is from a small hamlet in Punjab, got permission from her family to play for Pakistan only after the intervention of the board.
“For us, playing in the World Cup is a dream come true,” Akram said.
Akram, whose father is a retired teacher, got her love of cricket by watching it on television and tagging along with her male cousins to matches.
Naila Nazir, a leg-spin bowler who comes from the earthquake-ravaged town of Manshera in North West Frontier Province is excited about going to Australia, home of her cricket hero, former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne.
“I started bowling watching Warne bowl on TV. He is my idol, like our own Abdul Qadir,” Nazir said.
Pakistan coach Umar Rasheed admits his team are up against heavy odds as they face India, England and Sri Lanka in the first round.
“Women’s cricket is more organized in these countries, so they have strong sides,” Rasheed said. “But, I am optimistic. At times enthusiasm and team effort can overcome all odds.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB