INTERVIEW
Follow UsAs a 23-year-old, it’s not easy to handle the mantle of captaincy in a team filled with players older than you. However, Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana has different plans. She intends to thrive here, not merely survive.
While It helps that she’s always felt welcome amidst her seniors, we’ve often heard of teams going pear-shaped from this point. You don’t need to look beyond the Pakistan men’s team to know that sudden changes in captaincy doesn’t necessarily lead to results. Aware of the problems that might arise from such a decision, Fatima is accepting about her apprehensions.
Thankfully, reality has been nothing like it.
“It’s actually been a lot better than I expected. Leading a team filled with seniors comes with its own set of challenges, but none of them had any qualms about missing out on captaincy, or being led by a youngster, and it all went down pretty smoothly. We all have a single-minded focus on performing well in the World Cup, and we will be working towards it.”
Having had the chance to spend some time captaining the team in the T20I series against South Africa, Fatima knows that she will have her task cut out for her. She’s not really perturbed by it, for she’s had an opportunity to learn from one of Pakistan’s finest.
She spoke about the experience of having been groomed by “Bismah Baaji”, and getting to learn intangibles such as leadership, player management, role clarity, etc.
“She would go out of her way and ask me how I would deal with certain situations, even during games. That experience has helped me a lot while leading the team.
“The presence of seniors means that everyone will have their opinions on what to do and what not to. Now, it’s up to me as the captain to take in everything and stay calm. And that gets a bit difficult because the buck stops at me, I need to be clear on what I want to do,” she went on to say.
Apart from captaincy, she will also be expected to deal with the burden - mentally and physically - of being a fast-bowling all-rounder. Managing workload is also something she has been working on. The growing professionalism of women’s cricket in Pakistan can be reflected in what she had to say about her own fitness plan.
“Earlier, I was clueless on how to go about these things. Now, with a better understanding of my body, I am more conscious of managing my workload and not overworking myself. If I have an extended workout session, then I accordingly trim my nets to ensure that I don’t drain myself out completely. Also, with a trainer managing all of this, it has become a lot more organized as well.”
One of their best fielders, Fatima doesn’t shy away from talking about the team’s inconsistent fielding. Although, she is confident about the progress her side has made so far. Pakistan has the second-best catching efficiency of all teams in 2024, a change that’s happened thanks to the hard work put in behind the scenes.
“Earlier, we did not even have a dedicated fielding coach. Now, we have a fielding coach who has identified the strengths and weaknesses of each of our fielders, and has designed specific drills for each of them. Fingers crossed, you will see a difference in our standards during the World Cup, and we will put our best foot forward.”
While she began her career as a pacer, she has quickly moved up the order to become a vital component of their middle-order.
The change is conspicuous.
Making her debut in 2019, she had faced more than 10 balls in an innings on only six occasions in the first five years of her international career. Since Asia Cup 2024, she has done that successively in her last five outings while maintaining a healthy 130+ strike rate in each of those knocks.
“I’m very thankful to have gotten this opportunity, because it is difficult to get more batting time as a bowler. Before, I would only get to bat towards the end. But, after my domestic season, our coach (Mohammad Wasim) trusted my batting and I was able to grab that opportunity.”
The journey would have been a lot more trickier, if aggression did not come naturally to her.
“Like most people in Pakistan, I also started off by playing in the streets. So, we’d always have to be careful about the windows, the cars, etc. This is the reason we were forced to keep hitting straight. And because I would try hitting it as hard as possible to compete with the boys, I molded my batting to keep hitting the ball hard and straight.”
The streets of Karachi might have forgotten this little anecdote, but the grounds of UAE won’t. And the 23-year old will do anything to make sure it remains that way.
Hot and humid conditions are synonymous with the UAE, and it’s no different this time. Sure, Multan’s weather was no better, and having spent the last 30 days in that heat would have helped them acclimatize sooner.
The weather aside, uncertainty around conditions is something every team has to contend with. However, according to Sana, this is where their “ability to think on our feet” will come to the fore. She stresses on the importance of assessing the conditions quickly and adapting accordingly.
“The key will be to talk to each other during the games, and get an idea of what to expect. The quicker we assess and the sooner we communicate, the easier it becomes to adapt to these conditions.”
How does someone as young as Sana grasp this and make sense of it?
A major factor behind her steep learning curve is the opportunity to play in several overseas leagues; a feat not many of her teammates can boast of.
The leader in her came out when she spoke about it.
“For me, those opportunities were all about learning about their methods, what makes them so successful, how they carry themselves, etc - and to try and then share that with our team members. It helps us understand where we stand and what we need to do to compete against the world’s best.”
Of course, with such opportunities not in abundance, it’s imperative that Pakistan’s domestic structure also strengthens. Their neighbors, India, are already reaping rich rewards from the WPL.
“I hope that we also get a women’s Pakistan Super League, because when a young batter learns about attacking mindset and shot selection from international players, they will be in a much better place to make the jump to international cricket. Not just PSL, getting to play more domestic matches will make our girls much better cricketers. You can practice all you want, but game awareness comes only with more game time.
“The stronger our domestic structure, the more polished our girls would be by the time they play for Pakistan. It shouldn’t be the case that they’re still figuring themselves out and learning the basics while representing the country. For example - even in India, Women’s Premier League (WPL) has brought in a lot of players to the fore and helped them play the game better.”
So, did she catch a glimpse of the WPL?
“Yeah, I did watch some of it whenever I got the time. I was also rooting for RCB because a lot of my friends were there, and was thrilled to see them win the trophy.”
With this being, arguably, Pakistan’s best World Cup squad ever, their skipper is quietly confident about her side’s chances.
“Given our lack of intent, the batting unit has specifically worked on playing attacking cricket, and it was good to see those efforts pay off in our recent games. And entering the World Cup with this momentum will take our confidence to another level.
“So, we are really excited for the tournament.”
Their first game is only a night away, and Fatima will want to use the biggest platform to show that she is here to thrive, not survive.
*All images courtesy Fatima Sana's Instagram account (@fatima_sana14)
