The car door opens. A bat and helmet emerge followed by the owner of the equipment, a tiny tot, barely bigger than her bat. One lady fully covered in a chador and riding behind an elderly gentleman on a motorcycle stops near the ground and takes off her chador to reveal a brilliant white cricket kit underneath. More females dressed in black burqa get off a bus a little distance from the ground’s main entrance and chat away cheerfully amongst themselves as they walk towards the nets.

On a typically hot day, the academy grounds at National Stadium Karachi (NSK) experiences had a little extra activity than what is usual there. On one side of NSK’s academy ground, the men’s disabled team practice and at the other end there are the girls appearing for open trials for the under-18 regional cricket championship.

The coaches, including the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) regional representative Mrs Naz-e-Alam Sherazi watch the girls asked to bat and bowl in the nets. Eight-year-old Dina Razvi is eager to hold the hard ball in her hand. She had only played street cricket with a tape ball with the cooks and drivers in her neighbourhood. Taking a long run-up she bowls at the vacant wickets in the nets and Mrs Sherazi cannot help but exclaim: “Ninety degrees arm angle! Perfect!”

Cricket in Pakistan is emerging as a major women’s sport

Dina’s mother follows her with the helmet in hand before she can start batting but the child is not interested in wearing it as she joins the others gathering around a couple of officials taking down everyone’s name. That is when a dark blue Swift quietly pulls up behind the hedge of the practice ground before stepping out to watch the others. Despite her sunglasses, it isn’t long before the others recognise her. Syeda Nain Abidi, one of Pakistan women cricket team’s top bats-women, smiles and waves. She is there to buck up the others.

“We worked hard to reach where we are today. We still work very hard and don’t take anything for granted. I want these girls to work as hard,” she says. “Me and the team are always available to the younger lot for any help or advice,” Nain adds.

As a kid playing cricket with her brothers and cousins, Nain was always given the duties of 12th man, who got to participate as a gofer, doing odd jobs. “When they would ask for water, I would take the bat from them after handing them the glass. Then I would insist on being allowed to bat also to which they reluctantly agreed,” Nain laughs at the memory.

Pakistan women cricket team captain Sana Mir, remembering her early days shares her ambitions of studying to be an engineer, and says, “I used to dream about becoming an engineer ever since I was a child. I even got admission at the National University of Sciences and Technology but studies became difficult to manage alongside my playing cricket. That was when I took a break from my studies to concentrate on the sport. But I was heartbroken when I wasn’t even selected for the cricket team after appearing for trials the first time. I felt like I had lost everything but then my father said to me that the country still had plenty of female engineers but not enough women cricketers. His support put me right back on track.”

Sana, today, is like a big sister to her team. A while back, when the entire women’s team was invited by a well-known beauty salon for makeovers ahead of a big international tournament, the girls, some of whom had never had a facial before, were quite nervous. To put them at ease, Sana volunteered for threading, etc., first, even though she didn’t need it at the time. She advises them on how to present themselves in public, what to wear, what to say. Having more experience on the field, too, she talks to them about what to expect in different situations.

If we look at the beginnings of women’s cricket in Pakistan, it first earned recognition under the patronage of two sisters – Shaiza and Sharmeen Khan – who founded the Pakistan Women Cricket Control Association (PWCCA). That was also when women cricketers all over the world played in skirts and culottes. But our women cricketers wore proper trousers. Playing in international events such as the Women’s Cricket World Cup, their attire was noticed by the others. “We told them that we were Muslim and felt more comfortable playing in trousers. Watching us the other women cricket teams also switched to trousers, which is still the case,” Shaiza Khan shares.

The big-hearted former skipper Shaiza Khan released the players under contract with the PWCCA when the PCB set up its own Women’s Wing. The current captain, Sana Mir, ex-captain Urooj Mumtaz Khan, Nain Abidi and the world record holder and former national team wicketkeeper Syeda Batool Fatima happen to be among them.

Beating India in the Women’s World T20 last week the Girls in Green have also stopped tongues wagging about their two Asian Games victories. It was earlier thought that the Pakistan women cricket team had only baged gold medals in the women’s cricket event in Guangzhou, China in 2010 and in Incheon, South Korea in 2014 just because the Indian women’s cricket team didn’t feature there.

Today, what’s needed for women’s cricket in Pakistan is maintaining bench strength and finding new talent that can infuse fresh blood into the Pakistan side.

Back at NSK, after trying her hand at batting for a while, Dina, once again returns to her favourite part – bowling – this time to a girl double her age. The first delivery itself sees the girl facing her getting clean bowled. Everyone, who saw what happened starts clapping. Mrs Sherazi smiles as she asks her helper Ms Shagufta Kazmi to take down the girl’s phone number. And, another new talent is discovered.

Twitter: @hasanshazia

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, March 27th, 2016