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 Cricket Board (PCB) established a formal Women’s Wing for Cricket.

The Pakistan Women's Cricket Team

An off-spin bowler and right-handed batting woman, Mir made her international debut in 2005 during a match against Sri Lanka, and her T20 debut against the Netherlands. In 2009, Mir became the captain of the Pakistani team for the Women’s World Twenty20. She kept that post for Pakistan’s participation in the 2010 International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Cricket Challenge in South Africa.

Between 2009 and 2017, she played in 226 international matches, and captained the Pakistani team for 137 matches. Under her captaincy, Pakistan has managed to win 25 One Day Internationals (ODI) out of 72, and in her 65 T20s as captain, won 26 and lost 36. She has played a total of three Women’s Cricket World Cups (2009, 2013 and 2017) and six T20 World Cups (2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016) with the win average of 30.31%. In addition, she has also led the team to victory in the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games.

Sana Mir in 2009

Internationally, Mir boasts impressive credentials in Women’s Cricket. Currently, Mir is ranked number 9 in the ICC’s world rankings, and is the 10th best all-rounder in cricket. During her career as an all-rounder, she scored 1620 runs in 120 ODIs, with the average of 17.92 runs and 151 wickets. In the T20 format, she has played 106 T20s, scoring a total of 802 runs, with the average of 16.85 runs, and took 89 wickets.

Sana Mir

Among her international tournaments, the most captivating matches were the ODI between Pakistan and the Netherlands in 2010, and the 2012 Women’s T20 World Cup against India. In the 2010 ODI match against the Netherland, she scored 5 for 32 and 4 for 13 in T20s. The match against India was won by just one run, and Mir scored 26 runs and one wicket for the team, for which she was declared Player of the Match.

Sana Mir Pictured with The World T20 Trophy in Lahore

Domestically, she has retained the same quality and discipline in her matches. She started her departmental career from Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZBTL) in 2003. In 2013, ZBTL won the 8th National championship under her captaincy, making it the 6th win in a row for the team.

Mir does not lack in personal accolades either, as she was the first female player to receive the Cricketer of the Year Award in 2013. A year prior, she had received the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Award of Excellence) for her achievements in cricket. In 2018, she was ranked number one in ICC’s Women ODI bowling ranking, and the ICC declared her one of the finest female cricketers Pakistan has ever produced.

Sana Mir Bowling During a Match Between Australia and Pakistan

Although Mir dropped her captaincy in 2017, she continued to be a part of the team in 2019, playing her last match against Bangladesh in November that year. Currently, the female cricket team is led by equally capable Bismah Maroof, and cricket fans are eagerly waiting to see how she proves her mettle in future matches.

It is heartening to see that, as domestic cricket develops in Pakistan, women are being given space to perform and be cheered on as much as the men’s cricket team. Mir’s career serves as an inspiration, in terms of longevity and quality performance. Mir believes that a new generation of female cricketers are ready to take a helm. With her achievements as an example, surely female cricket players will aspire for more greatness, taking Women’s Cricket in Pakistan to new international heights.