NEW DELHI: The Pakistan women's cricket team has faced intense criticism following a disappointing ICC Women's World Cup campaign, which saw them suffer a 150-run defeat to South Africa in Colombo on Tuesday.
Sitting at the bottom of the points table, Pakistan has already lost to Bangladesh, India, Australia, and South Africa, while rain curtailed their matches against England and New Zealand.
South Africa hammer Pakistan by 150 runs, India and New Zealand to fight for last semifinal spot
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has reportedly asked his advisory panel to assess the team's poor performance, with reports indicating that changes to the management could be on the horizon.
Former captain Javeria Khan slammed the batting unit, noting that the players lacked the power and technical skill seen in other teams, while former pacer Kabir Khan urged the PCB to strengthen the domestic structure to nurture new talent.
"The batters didn't get going but the bowlers had even Australia, India and England in difficult situations but couldn't finish the job. I think the opening match defeat to Bangladesh rattled the confidence of the players," said Javeria.
Calling for a robust and vibrant domestic calendar for women's cricket in Pakistan, Kabir, a former coach of the team, said: "We are not finding new talent the way other teams do since they have better domestic set-ups and we need to start at junior level because girls in Pakistan do want to play professional cricket."
A social media user highlighted the disparity in attention between men's and women's cricket.
A user on X noted that when the Pakistan men's team perform badly they are not spared by anyone and players and officials face the brunt but sadly no one takes women's cricket as seriously despite the investment made by the board.
The PCB women's wing is headed former deputy commissioner of Lahore Rafia Haider, a bureaucrat with no prior experience in cricket.
(With PTI Inputs)
