IN a country infested with taboos against women’s freedom, where a lone teenage girl venturing out of the house evokes the wrath of her male family members or a 70-year-old granny not being ushered in by a mehrum as young as five years is considered obscenity, the formation of a women’s cricket team that represents the country in the international arena is asking for the moon.

That Pakistan was able to form a women’s team that recently played in the World Cup in India is nothing less than a living miracle.

The choice of selecting the team was confined to girls of a few colleges in Lahore and Karachi; the pool of 52 per cent female population of Pakistan was out of reach of the selectors for obvious traditional taboos.

The team played the matches in the most insecure environment in India that would unnerve even male players. Pakistani women’s cricket team matches were moved from Mumbai, the original venue of the tournament, to Cuttack after threats from Hindu extremists party Shiv Sena. The home crowd in Cuttack was also hostile.

Also, they were pitted against teams from countries where women enjoy as much freedom as their male counterparts, especially in sports. That our team played four matches and achieved a reasonable score is a performance that can be justly termed wonderful.

G.B. SHAH BOKHARI
Peshawar