After a nerve-wrecking clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in women’s T20 World Cup 2023 on February 12, cricketers around the world had their eyes glued to TV screens to see if they got picked in inaugural Women Premier League (WPL) auction. But Pakistan players who put up an impressive display against runners-up India would stay away from the action as the politicial tensions between the two nations have led to their players getting banned from India’s franchise leagues.
Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof who scored a splendid unbeaten 68 off 55 deliveries and shared a game-changing partnership with Ayesha Naseem (25-ball 43) expressed her disappointment over her nation’s players in the league.
"We as Pakistan, you know we don't get many opportunities to play in the leagues that's very unfortunate. Of course, we are not liking that and definitely we will love to play every opportunity we get in the leagues but yeah that's what it is and we can't control that," Maroof said.
Maroof was happy with her team’s batting performance after setting a 150-run target at Newlands, Cape Town. However, she was criticial of her bowling as they gave away the advantage in the slog overs to Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh.
"I think overall we played very good cricket throughout the match but I think we did have errors in our bowling. I think that was cautious but overall, I think it was a very good match and we will take that forward and be better in the next game." Maroof praised India's batting depth.
"Yeah, we know that will be close because we know that India have a very deep batting. So it was just the ball in the right areas and I think we are on the wrong side today (Sunday) but yeah learning from this we will take that forward in the next game and improve," she said.
“I think in the last five to six overs we gave away too many runs and we didn't keep them quiet. I think we gave away boundaries at the wrong time so I think that may be the turning point for us.”
