A growing concern for test cricket has been the rise of the shorter version of the game.The T20’s. They have taken the game by storm.The commercial aspect of the game has grown astronomically and become the backbone for any home board ‘s finances with the TV money and surging attendances that it attracts.

At the time of this tour being scheduled, the three T20s were to provide some much needed warmup to the ICC World T20 due in October.Covid-19 delayed the ICC World T20, the high profile event was replaced in the same window by IPL, the biggest T20 league. Similarly, PSL 5 is yet to be decided and the window provides opportunity to it to be completed.As we speak, those T20’s will be taking place in mid-November. 

The first T20 in Manchester was abandoned with England 131/6 in 16.1overs.There wasn’t much to write home about that except for Tom Banton ‘s 71 and the spinners getting some good wickets to come back. Mohammad Hafeez was kept in and he justified his slot by knocking in a 69 in the next T20, a game covered by BBC for the first time since 1999 World Cup.

In the middle T20, Pakistan set out a good total given the conditions were ripe for high scoring. Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam set off to a flier.Babar’s wicket when he scored 56 then reduced that surge however Mohammad Hafeez facing the scorn of social media was able to carry on some frantic hitting, taking the score to 195. This looked a good score from Pakistan’s standards. It was the highest score posted at Old Trafford.Shoaib Malik and Iftikhar Ahmad failed to impress despite the high score.

Chasing 196 wasn’t going to be easy but the opening set a 66.Shadab bowled a huge 7th over after the power play.He took Johnny Bairstow’s and Tom Banton’s wickets in consecutive balls.He could have taken out the skipper, Eoin Morgan’s wicket as well which was given a not out and despite review managed to save him , only to hit a blinding 66 off 33 balls.That was the match really with Malan playing a supportive 56 not out. Shadab finished with 3/34.

This would have been another morale crusher with Greenshirts not able to defend a huge score just like the test.However, the visitors brought in some much needed changes following the loss.Haidar Ali the much talked about youngster who  thrived in the PSL earlier in the year with Peshawar Zalmi came and outscored his colleague Tom Banton in the final T20.

He had a blistering debut scoring a 50 off 27 balls.Right from the second ball, when he hit at six, he was looking like in control. With Hafeez, who again played a blinder with an 86, the Greenshirts towered another total of 190 for the evening.It looked as if England would be able to manage this target but on the evening start, England were shelled with Shaheen Shah’s  fury of pace initially.

One of the highlights of the innings was when Moeen Ali ‘s stumping was missed  early on in his innings with the wicket keeper and ex captain Sarfraz Ahmad failing to dislodge the bails. This could have been a key point in the game as Moeen went on to make 61 and almost taking England home. Wahab Riaz had other ideas in mind with a brilliant 19th over.That saved Pakistan and despite a late Tom Curran six, came home with 5 run win to finish off the tour with their sole win.The trip back home might not be so bad now.

Mohammad Hafeez was man of the match and man of the series ending any speculation that 2021 World Cup would be a step too far for him to be retained.Haidar Ali was a pleasant new entry into the T20 squad and one that was much needed. Wahab Riaz proved his death bowling is still premium quality as compared to a lingering Mohammad Amir.Once again death hitting by Pakistan is found lacking and Shadab s spin bowling still isn’t a finished article.There is a lot to take back home and reflect for now.

Although, England were playing a relatively weakened side, they face an enthralling series with Australia coming for a limited over international series soon. More fireworks will surely be set to fly.

Usually Manchester and the Northwest of UK gets blamed for the rains that can occur almost any day of any month without much notice.With Covid -19  triggering the new bio-secure settings meaning players needing to be accommodated within the sporting facility, Southampton and Manchester  were the obvious choices. It led to the age old concern of having cricket in a rain prone venue.

Having said that Manchester’s third test of the summer ,a row produced a result and it was a cliffhanger, being the first test of this series.It seemed that the weather won’t be able to say much come the tour moving south.Weren’t we so wrong ? The 2nd test of the series was marred by rain with a whole day washed out on day 3, resulting in an early close even before a 2nd inning was halfway through.

Come the third test, it was more likely that the final days of the test might be affected.England won the toss for the first time and decided to bat. Pressure on Pakistan  ? Not initially.They dismissed  Burns, Sibley, Root and Pope by 127.Then came a stand for the ages. Zak Crawley, relative early in his test, came solid in his eighth outing. Following on from earlier int he week where he cracked a 53, he punched and cut his way through the bowling lineup.England had accumulated a quick 332/4 by stumps with Crawley (171) and Jos Butler (87) ,who must be dreaming of when he faces the Greenshirts next , locked in a record setting stand.

Crawley’s debut ton materialised into a double hundred.At 6 feet 5, he stands as the second tallest double centurion.For the fifth wicket, they set a monumental 359 runs, a record for England. Crawley cruised  to 267 , the 10th highest score from an Englishman. Jos had 152 and the Pakistani bowling was pasted for two days having no clue to how to get wickets.They waited until finally Joe Root called them in at 583-8.

If this script hasn’t been written before, there must be an abyss the viewer is whilst  watching a game involving  the Greenshirts. With the new ball swinging in Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad’s hands rather than Mohammad Abbas or Shaheen Afridi’s, the rails were about to come off.At 24-3 on stumps on day 2, the follow on target of 384 looked already unattainable.The next morning Asad left for 5 and Fawad with an uncanny knock of 21 somehow survived to make the new ball old for the skipper.

Enter Mohammad Rizwan, who had starred with a 72 earlier on this ground. The  skipper, Azhar Ali  was on the other end and he seemed destined for the sack  considering how poor his form was the two put on an important stand .Rizwan reached his second 50 and Azhar claimed a grinding 17th 100, the first as skipper abroad and bought time to take the visitors to 273.This was a crucial innings in context of Azhar’s journey post 2017.He had adjusted a tactic of clearing his left leg in the series which gave him some breathing space and once his eye set in, he played the pacers nicely.

Pakistan still  followed on but now the weather came into play on days four and five.With not much play possible from 100-2 on day 4 , the tourists were asked to shake hands soon after Jimmy Anderson had removed Azhar in the 2nd innings for 31 to bring up his 600th wicket, an unbelievable effort.Babar punctuated the last innings of his tour with a 63, although the lack of hundred did tell the story for Pakistan’s leading batsman. The draw was called with visitors 187-4.Pakistan had finally lost to England after 2010 in a test series.

This wasn’t a surprising result however given the rain that has fallen, it was strange to see two consecutive tests end in Southampton due to it.So what had each team gained ?For the hosts, Zak Crawley impressed a lot as a youngster, Jos Butler despite the numerous drops as a keeper held onto his place with two huge knocks secured the man of the series.Chris Woakes, the man of the match in Manchester was another positive but then Greenshirts are his bogey team.For Pakistan,Mohammad Rizwan was man of the series rightly with the way he impacted in crises in collapses and his excellent glove work.Azhar Ali redeemed his test batting place for now and it might be enough to retain his captaincy as well for the time being.

As for the cons, the English openers for sure and this wily off spinner called Dom Bess. How he continues to be in the squad is an enigma but come the winter Jack Leach might be kept in.For Greenshirts where to begin with? Well the batting surely leads off . Has Asad Shafiq played the last of his 77 tests? With an off colour tally of  67 in his five innings, it looks like he is all set to be dropped for the Kiwi winter tour.Its been one of his worst tours and sadly it comes at the twilight of his career.There might not be a reprieve for this.

Pakistani bowling has usually been their strength historically but keeping in line with youth the lack of aggression in Naseem shah and  Shaheen Afridi , the young guns has been mind boggling.The continued reliance on Yasir Shah who isn’t the country’s no.1 spinner to get the majority of the wickets is also a growing concern.It seems the lack of Wahab Riaz and Mohammed Amir in red ball game has led to the lack of a spearhead and a mentor on the field.

Its been 10 years since Pakistan lost a series to England and that gulf was apparent despite the rain.Even if the two draws secured 20 WTC points each, the visitors will have to redress the balance by having a careful and deep reflection on their selection choices, resilience in batting and bowling and most importantly their mindset.

( To be continued )

The word ” Adeel” comes from arabic origin, an alternate to ” Adil” meaning the righteous one.One who is fair. But Sport times is not fair. Certainly Pakistani sport can hardly be called anything as remotely fair.

Though he came as a 15 year old in Rashid  Latif’s cricket academy in 2001, his father being a first class cricketer himself and a notable cricket administrator, not much was known about Fawad Alam till he came into the international scene after one of the worst showings for Greenshirts in 2007 World Cup.He was kept in the Warid Series vs Sri Lanka when a young Shoaib Malik found himself at the the helms of the captaincy in his assignment as skipper.It was a dead rubber as Pakistan had already won the series in Abu Dhabi. Chasing a daunting 297 in the finale,he came to bat at 68/4. It was a forgettable debut as he had a golden duck to begin his ODI career.Bowled by Dilhara Fernando.He never gave up though.

Later that year, it was a surprise he found himself in the inaugural T20 semifinal vs the Kiwis, a game Pak won without his batting services. He was in the 2009 T20 World cup victorius squad and featured though, not with the bat, in all  four must win  games that Greenshirts won to take the trophy. He would only play 11 more T20s and none since 2010.A month later he landed a huge test  debut in Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo chalking up 168 in the second innings .He was given only 4 more test innings. He never gave up though.

In a brief return to the ODI’s in 2014 ,he smashed two innings of note. Firstly against Bangladesh , in a must win game,he scored 74 and then in his biggest innings in a  knockout game, he scored a maiden ton in the final vs Sri lanka.It was amazing.He scored a 62 a few months later on a Lankan tour to lead Greenshirts to a win in Hambantota but under Misbah ul Haq he was only given six more ODI innings and then forever shunned into darkness.He never gave up though.

His first class record is phonomenal though.Amassing 16,000 plus runs with 35 tons, 4 in the last Quaid e Azam season inclusive of  a double ton,he still was not the first choice in the middle order for the selection for the test squad .Could it be a  dream that he still would  chasing a test berth 10 years after last appearing in the national squad ? He never gave up though.

Having heard from a majority of Pakistani cricket journalists, analysts, anchors, friends relatives, professional and recreational cricketers ,even the average Joe on the street stated that they would like to see him back in the squad. There was also a polarising group of fans and critics  who didn’t want the 34 yr old to come back in test cricket largely due to an ageing aura and stance which had deviated from the cricketing norms.My argument was if you could try players who haven’t starred in the domestic scene then why not those who have.What is the new revamped QEA trophy there to begin with ? If Steven Smith can take 38 balls to get off the mark in tests with that trigger movement and be the best surely there is scope for others.

Although he was kept in the squad for the winter home series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, he was sidelined for both  in favour of Haris Sohail who performed.When Haris refused to travel to the England tour in light of the new COVID restrictions brought into place in light of his travel anxiety, it meant an automatic no 6 spot. Or was it ? Shadab Khan was chosen as the batting – spinning option when he was used for only 13 overs entirely.Shadab had a useful 45 but with not playing any 4 day format cricket, he was hardly a starting test bowler or batsman.

Then, in the light of the debacle at Old Trafford and pressure from media, finally Fawad Alam was called in.The break stood at 3911 days and 88 test matches.He had much to answer now and the weight of expectations showed. With an unorthodox stance that makes Shivnarine Chanderpaul and George Bailey look like spectators, he walked in on  day one after Pakistan won the toss and batted at 117/4.He lasted just 4 balls, 3 from Stuart Broad and then the lbw shout from Woakes which was reviewed to be hitting the stumps.The wait was enormous but the stay was just minutes.He didn’t still give up.

Pakistan managed some rare guard action with Rizwan’s crisis innings of 72 to get to a respectable 236. It was a gutsy and busy innings where the top order had been highlighted only by Abid Ali’s 60.The rest folded again like the second innings of Manchester to the pace of Broad, Jimmy Anderson, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran.However before any progress could be made about the England response, torrential rain took over and swallowed the match like a huge ocean tide on sand.

With most of days three, four and five gone to the downpour, England managed 110/4 before the test was deemed a draw.Zak Crawley who had also come back in the england squad scored a timely 53 before a short flurry of wickets fell on  the final evening to close out the game. Alongside the feeble top order batting of Pakistan, there was another question posed by many : Will Fawad  get another chance ? If to try again is an offence then he is surely guilty in every cricketing court. Only time will tell. One thing was sure, he wont give up.

(To be continued)

September 7, 2016. The sight of Khalid Latif and Sharjeel Khan tormenting the English attacks on a chilly evening in Manchester was sight of sore eyes for millions back in Pakistan and thousands in the stands of Old Trafford. The temporary stands from where I was watching reverberated with slogans , chants of JJ ‘s “Dil Dil Pakistan ” , an anthem that has engulfed every cricket match for decades ,was absorbing to say the least. In unison, it felt like you were on streets of Lahore, Karachi or Peshawar at Eid time but much louder. The euphoria was unmatched.

It was the finest hour of the Greenshirts in the city after the World Cup semifinal win  of 1999, under then a new captain Sarfaraz Ahmad. 4 years later however, there is no Khalid,Sharjeel or Sarfaraz in the 11 which started on August 5.There were no spectators either,like literally, as a new era of  test cricket had started.It is now the Covid19 era of cricket.The tour itself looked a fallacy at times to be organised in the background of an uptick of pandemic both in Uk and in the” Land of the Pure.”

Azhar Ali was Sarfaraz ‘s chronological successor but in true terms he was the understudy of his ex- SNGPL team mate and now coach Misbah ul Haq.As a skipper he lacked aggression and many doubted his place in the 11 let alone skippering it.Since 2017 when he had the knee surgery, he has a meagre record on foreign tracks and that procession continued in Manchester with a duck and 18, due to the struggles with that knee bending.On both occasions he was dismissed by Chris Woakes, who had mesmerised the Greenshirts in 2016 claiming a huge tally of 26 wickets the second best  only to the legendary Abdul Qadir ‘s haul of 30 in 1987.Woakes wasn’t done yet with Greenshirts.

Pakistan batted in typical Pakistan style. From 43/2, Babar Azam and Shan Masood had averted misery on a rain hit day 1 with a 97 run stand. Shan ,who was more famous of being Jimmy Anderson ‘s bunny of six dismissals in a row prior to this test,had liaised with many  external coaches  to help with his technique.His interests of reading motivational books and watching the “Batman” and Leonardo DiCaprio movies are  unorthodox for a test player coming from Pakistan.Babar’s 69 made him his “Robin” even though he was hyped to do much more.His dismissal on the second morning led to a typical crisis of sorts.Pakistan were soon 170/5. Shadab Khan’s inclusion as a batsman at 6 seemed to be helpful hitting  a cheeky 46. Shan somehow fought with the lower order and tail in a gritty  156.Their total of 326 seemed decent on a wicket destined to deteriorate especially on the last days.

What followed was one of the superb new ball spells in recent times with Shaheen Afridi and  Mohammad Abbas sharing the spoils. England though upstaged in the evening session ,  managed  91/4 at the end of the day but not before Abbas castled Stokes’ off stump with a peach of delivery for nought.The next day the team folded to 219, meaning the visitors led by a huge 107. Yasir Shah, the leggie took 4. The drama didn’t end there. The Greenshirts let their guard loose and collapsed to 137/8 by the end of day 3. A late cameo from Yasir took them to 169 and setting a stiff target of 277.

England seemed at one point struggling with 117/5 in the chase. Both Root and Stokes were dismissed in the afternoon session, the former to a scorcher from the young fast bowler Naseem Shah, being hailed as the new sensation from an assembly line of fast bowlers back home and upgraded from Under 19 cricket.Naseem could muster no more though as Jos Butler and Chris Woakes came to the rescue.

One could say Jos Butler was given a redemption for the numerous chances he missed behind the wicket especially when Shan was batting. He batted typically in his one day mode not for the first time against the Greenshirts and not the last either.Facing a potential sack  from the test side, he struck 75 crucial runs in the chase with Chris Woakes.Woakes did more damage in this test with his batting in a match winning unbeaten  86 alongside his four wickets than the expected threat from his all rounding colleague Ben Stokes.England had won by 3 wickets.

Pakistan were denied a victory with a final session meltdown and not for the first time. The captaincy was poor with defensive field placings and bowling changes in light of the onslaught of runs  were characteristic of ” Panicstan”. The pre-test hype  was about using spin. Where was Shadab as second spinner in all this equation ? This defensive mindset has been hounding Greenshirts for a decade now.

Azhar Ali and co. were left in the north with much to ponder. It seemed to many that it was a morale damaging  loss for many to ruminate throughout the series  as they had only a few days to recuperate before the crew headed to Southampton. Only time will tell how they will recover from this debacle .

( To be continued )

Azhar Ali won the toss thankfully and batted. He himself was a reluctant skipper , a mere shadow of his SNGPL mate and current coach Misbah ul Haq and Sarfraz’s successor. There were many who doubted his presence in the team let alone skipperhood,  since his meagre average especially on foreign turfs since that knee operation in 2017.His batting in Manchester was no better example of those concerns. Shan Masood the opener whose rise to fame in this bilateral series had been Jimmy Anderson’s bunny( six dismissals in row prioor to this test )

A year ago when it was announced that all of Pakistan Super League’s matches in its  fifth edition were going to be held in Pakistan, few would have believed it considering the security situation in Pakistan and the lack of international series played on Pakistani soil for a almost a  decade.Over the last one year though that myth slowly changed.Pakistan have their own league to look forward to,now, on its home shores.

Firstly, the Sri Lankan tour took place though in two episodes which was a major step in bringing back cricket in the three big centres of the country.The Bangladesh tour albeit in measured portions further complimented their hosting of an event of PSL’s stature.After 5 decades,the MCC led by Kumar Sangakkara as its first non British head travelled for a week long tour to play four white ball cricket games in Lahore.This cemented to a degree that the doors of cricket are now open.

More than the tour itself it was Kumar’s  inspirational quotes that won hearts. He stated

“Cricket belongs to everyone, but for the players to have that platform and display their skills, you need to have that support.The fact is that you need to have an underpinning of youth who can be inspired to take up the game.”

Entrenched  in cricketing isolation for a decade, this  PSL is the acid test for future tours in Pakistan as well as the one of the laboratories for emerging talent.The country has produced some of the finest cricketers to play in all formats of the game.Having previously hosted  primarily in the UAE with only a number of playoff games coming home,there were always reservations for players touring.Shane Watson was the famous example in 2017 final for Quetta.Those who came such as Peshawar Zalmi’s squad members led by  Darren Sammy and Quetta’s mentor Vivian Richards   were showered with warmth and love hardly seen in sporting circles.

Organising a month long event with security  being paramount of  all players not  just the foreign contingent, but also of the coaching staff and media remains to be  challenge in process. It also is inclusive  of factors like  infrastructure ,renovation of the stadia and  advertising which is at a whole new level since the last cricketing trophy Pakistan hosted in 2008 (Asia Cup).It also gave an opportunity to see how PCB reacts to the rigours required of  multi team cricket tournament as the Asia Cup comes back  later this year.PCB and the state agencies involved  deserved its share of credit in this respect, the way they have managed to pull off something not imaginable months back.

To say cricket is madly followed in the nation is an understatement. The fact test cricket was almost wiped  off its shores for a decade  and still the youth continue to prosper is a massive achievement.One of them,Babar Azam had never played a home test until a couple of months back and did he get an ovation  from the vociferous Rawalpindi crowd.The chants of “Babar, Babar” reverberated that Sunday on his first century on ” home ” soil as much as it did on his winning ton in Edgbaston,Birmingham in the World Cup game against New Zealand,the biggest partisan crowd outside of home in a major event.With attendances expected to soar as the tournament progresses,he  has become the new face of Pakistan cricket and PSL.Everywhere he goes, crowds will follow.He not only is a King in Karachi but now of Pakistan.

PSL has become a major product since its inception and has grown every year. It was the first league of any kind to adopt a TV review in 2017 playoffs, something the ICC went on to replicate in all its T20 matches.From the initial season when it was completely played in the UAE and had five teams,it now consists of  six teams from cities which instill a degree of culture in their own paradigm.Mascots such as Sheru from Islamabad, “Glady” of Quetta ,”Saeen” of Multan and the “Markhor” impart their own energies to the league.

Multan and Rawalpindi are the new venues for this year’s PSL, a treat for their respective teams and ever growing popularity.Multan boasts the largest cricket stadium in Pakistan since the Gaddafi Stadium underwent renovation.Islamabad being the nation’s capital is in proximity with Rawalpindi which is a major nursery of cricket.Karachi and Lahore, as is traditionally,will dominate the match fixtures with Peshawar speculated to host next year’s tournament.

This year’s hosting will definitely boost interest in youth which has dwindled in the last decade with people starved to see both home and international cricketers. From Khyber to Karachi,there can’t be any bigger bond shared than the love of this game . For the millions who will watch in the country, there will many millions more  who will watch it from the TV sets to many digital platforms all across the globe.Urdu Commentary is a welcome boost this year and its fair to say commentary in more local languages will be attract it even more.

There will no doubt that come March 22,Lahore would host one of its biggest cricketing finals.Abdul Hafeez Kardar,father of Pakistani cricket would have been proud and the famous road named after the “Skipper” leading to Gaddafi  Stadium will  greet every team in the coming month.Cricket is the true winner and PSL is finally home ! And I as well as many millions of fans can’t wait for the new talent to rise !

With spring in sight, there can’t be any better validation of this season than the famous words  of the country’s famous test wicket-keeper Wasim Bari

“Cricket unites Pakistan and makes it talents bloom.”

For PSL Streaming , use the following link

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pk.beesports.beesports

     My Mum never liked cricket.She didn’t want to watch test or even one day format as it was very long and arduous.Unlike her sisters who were able to tolerate cricket and watch it to a degree,she would prefer watching football instead of cricket.Being the only girl in the household of five, the rest four ( my dad and  us three brothers ) were avid cricket fans.So on the odd occasion,she has to say about anything remotely related to cricket are conversations to cherish.Against the odds, she once batted in a game of cricket with us boys in our front lawn in our family home in Lahore.An unforgettable evening .She had to manage her cream coloured “dupatta” very well alongside choosing which shot she ll play to my younger brother’s leg spinner.I will never forget when earlier this year she inquired about the reasons of Pakistan’s World Cup loss in Manchester against India the day after. Cricket had truly conquered its final frontier.

      In 2014 ,Sarah Taylor was voted as ICC women’s cricketer of the year. She is one of the most revered English women’s cricketers.A few months ago , she quit cricket in context of longstanding anxiety. She was supported by her peers and media on the decision.Generalised Anxiety is a common condition affecting upto  5% of population. Sana Mir is the most revered woman cricketer in Pakistan, possibly the most popular sportswoman produced as well. A gold medallist in back to back to Asian games, she is the ambassador of sport in the nation. Whether one likes certain players on the men’s cricket team or not, there will be a few who won’t be able to acknowledge Sana’s contribution to women’s sport in the country.Will the media support her when she calls it “quit” if she has any issue regarding her mental health? To even begin addressing the issue there is a bigger piece of puzzle to solve. 

      In Pakistan where, psychiatric morbidity is estimated to between 10-15% of the affected population, 6 % of which can account for depression alone, it is still considered a major taboo.It remains undiagnosed and hence under treated.The limited figures on psychiatric conditions suggest upto 45.5 % of women in urban cities can suffer from generalised anxiety.There is no figure  to suggest how rest of the geographical areas fare.This is not even close to the real bad news.Pakistani women have highest rates of post partum depression in Asia, ranging from 28-63%. In UK ,this figure is bewteen 9-21%.It has devastating effects on mothers, children and families.No one would want their mums to undergo this.

      There are several issues underlying for the high numbers.Women suffer from  marginalisation in society.Honour killings, exchange marriages,dowry,the role of in laws in an extended family system and violence against them are key factors.A UN research study found that 50% of women are physically battered and 90 % mentally and verbally abused by their men.Domestic violence takes place in 80 % of households.If they have interest in sport, it’s a taboo and if by chance they are allowed, they won’t be allowed to prosper.Many dreams are killed even before they take the field.Family highly discourages them to take any form of sport .Hence their physical and mental well being is severely compromised even before they are settled in life.I can’t even begin to imagine what hardships these cricketers have suffered before making it this far !

       A female  model  Anam Tanoli committed  suicide last summer in Lahore,when she hanged herself and only posthumously came to attention that she was depressed.Many in Pakistani entertainment industry now are a starting to speak up.Saba Qamar and Imran Abbas are celebrities who like their counterparts in the west suffer from depression and have talked about it.There is lack of psychiatric and psychological support in all major psychiatric faculties and a country of 220 million has  less than a thousand trained psychiatrists.The annual rate of suicide is 2.9% per 100,000.A further 130,000-450,000 are risk of committing one according to world indices.Still very few sportsmen and women can talk about mental health and needs. If the actors can do it why can’t our sportsmen and women ?  

       Halima Rafiq, a Pakistani woman cricketer from Multan in 2014 accused  the chairman of Multan cricket club on sexual harassment allegations which were disproven in a  lawsuit. Halima took her own life ingesting acid in July 2014 dying in Nishtar Hospital’s emergency room. She was 17. How many Anams and Halimas will it take for mental health to be taken seriously in Pakistani society let alone sport ?

       The fulcrum of sport is now revolving around cricket for the last few decades. In context of poor educational background and insight, not everyone is as aware of ,barring some in the upper classes and even then struggle to ask for help , be assessed or “take a break“. It is almost unknown entity in rural parts of the country and many are never diagnosed. Needless to say ,women’s cricketers mental health continues like the men to be an overlooked subject. 

        A beating heart doesn’t give you much more than an hour when a clot affects its blood supply it to save a life. The body will pour out it with sweat, pain and blood.A beat up mind is so resilient still that it goes unnoticed all its lifespan not being cared for and absorbing a universe  of distress. Sometime the only treatment is a hug from one’s team mates or family.

Sport is mandatory for men and women regardless of age.It gives hope and opportunity to many all over Pakistan and a chance to redeem themselves. Let’s not deprive women of their chance in the sun. Exercise is medicine.Its high time stigma needs to end in cricket as well for women’s mental health in order to help  address both gender’s mental health needs !