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Follow UsHow many 22-year-olds you know who are not only the best in their nation at what they do, but are also natural leaders from their first step on the field?
How many 22-year-olds do you know who played tape ball cricket with their brothers in an alleyway, developed their down-the-ground hitting from there, and then dominated oppositions at the international level?
Fatima Sana Khan from Nazimabad, Karachi has done that and so much more already in Pakistan cricket by becoming their skipper at such a young age. The fact that she’s also a bowling all-rounder, and already one of the best fast bowlers Pakistan have ever produced should tell you how quickly her talent has made itself known worldwide.
That’s why it probably didn't deter her when she was asked to lead a team full of senior players. And that showed in Pakistan’s first game of the T20 World Cup, where they defeated the Asian Champions Sri Lanka by 31 runs in a low-scoring encounter.
“The presence of seniors means that everyone will have their opinions on what to do and what not to do,” she told Cricket.com recently with the characteristic small smile she wears during interviews.
“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 about what I want to do."
That clarity in decision-making that she aspired to have before the tournament showed on the field, right from her own batting. Coming in at number seven after her team was 72/5 in the 13th over and had just lost their senior-most batter, Nida Dar, who was looking good after making 23 in just 21 deliveries, which included a six. However, left-arm pacer Udeshika Prabodani cleaned her stumps, and Sana had a huge responsibility to take her team to a decent total.
Sana also discussed the lack of intent in the chat with us and informed us that the team is working hard to inculcate attacking intent in their batting. She walked the talk when it mattered the most and scored 30 off just 20 deliveries—the fastest innings across both games played at Sharjah today.
She also brought out her iconic six down the ground, this time hitting Sachini Nisansala over long on. She also crunched three fours in her innings, and remained busy throughout, something which the other Pakistani batters failed to do as no one apart from Sana and Dar could cross 20.
When Pakistan came to bowl, Diana Baig got injured after bowling just one delivery in the first over and had to walk off the field. Sana, despite having many options to go to, made herself bowl the remaining five deliveries. She came back in the third over and started bowling to Sri Lanka’s skipper Chamari Athapaththu from over the wicket, and getting the ball to move away across from her.
After the first ball on the pads was defended from Athapaththu, Sana bowled the next fuller, and it moved just slightly. That was enough for Athapaththu to mistime her lofted cover drive, and Omaima Sohail safely caught her at extra cover.
Sana had not only been the best batter of Pakistan in the game. She had now also dismissed the best batter of the opposition. And if that wasn’t enough, she continued to bowl Sohail’s and Dar’s off-spin to the leftie batters. Sohail brilliantly castled both Harshita Samarawickrama (the hero of the Asia Cup final for Sri Lanka) and Hasini Perera.
That brought the Lankan innings to its knees, and they were never able to recover and finish the chase. Nashra Sandhu, the left-arm spinner, only came to bowl in the ninth over when two right-handers were on the crease, reflecting the matchup knowledge of her skipper. Sana returned to pick up one more wicket in the last over, ending with a superb figure of 2/10.
Sana was so impressive on the field in her World Cup captaincy debut that the opposition skipper's first statement in the post-match presentation was about her only, and she said it with a huge smile on her face.
“I would like to congratulate Sana, she’s played good cricket, and has led from the front. That’s really good for Pakistan,” Athapaththu said.
In subcontinent nations, young captains are thought of a a big no-no because 1) they aren’t able to balance the power dynamics in the team, as their authority is always vulnerable in front of the seniors 2) teams fear losing their key players due to the extra burden of captaincy.
Sana not only managed to look and act like a leader on the field, with the seniors all backing and behind her, she also pulled an absolutely stupendous all-round display of cricket. It shows how rare a talent Pakistan have amidst their ranks, and there couldn’t have been a more serendipitous start to their campaign in a World Cup that has been built up as a test of Sana’s mettle.
As of now, she’s aced the test so well that she even got the Player of the Match medal to show for it.
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