Sana Mir
Sana Mir: 15 Years of Cricket Excellence When Sana Mir announced in early April that she would take a break from the Pakistan’s female cricket team, the country erupted into shock and paid tribute a successful career that has spanned over 15 years. Seldom players elicit such deep respect from the public. Her career is a shining example of how sports can be an arena of female empowerment, which can inspire young girls to take up professional cricket, and reduce the stigma of women playing cricket in Pakistan. Born in 1986 in Abbotabad to an Army family, Mir traveled the country, from Gilgit to Karachi. Her love of cricket began at the age of 5, playing street cricket with the neighborhood children. However, she played her first match at the age of 19, at a time when domestic cricket in Pakistan had not yet developed. Although a Pakistani women’s cricket team was established in 1996, it was not very successful in international tournaments. It was not until 2005 that the Pakistan