Sana Mir reacts to coach Sabih Azhar's comments on her
What’s the story?
Captain of the Pakistan women’s cricket team, Sana Mir, has hit back at the head coach Sabih Azhar for alleging that the skipper was ‘self-centred and egoistical’ during Pakistan’s poor journey in the Women’s World Cup 2017.
Mir, on her Facebook page, reacted to the coach’s criticism by revealing that the reason for her fallout with the coach was Diana Baig's selection in the World Cup. The 21-year-old picked up seven wickets during the tournament.
"My coordination with the coach suffered when I insisted on playing Diana Baig, who was in absolutely great form. That was our major disagreement. Diana is talented and was in great form in the WWC 2017.
"My fight was to play a youngster in the team who is ready for international cricket. I don't regret it. Moreover, we suffered defeats in this World Cup as spinners with the new ball penetrated our top order consistently in each game, specially left-arm spinners. We are also still short of players who can perform under pressure."
The 31-year-old also made it clear that she doesn’t intend to continue with the current coaching setup.
"I want to make it clear I don't intend to continue in the future with the current set-up of the Women's Wing in any capacity. I would still be sharing a detailed report with all of you to improve women's cricket once I get back by the end of August."
In case you didn’t know...
Earlier, the coach had lashed out at Mir, and the team manager Ayesha Ashar, making them the scapegoat of Pakistan’s winless campaign in England. In a report to the PCB, Azhar said that the team won’t grow unless the manager and the captain are sacked.
The heart of the matter
Mir, who quit as Pakistan's T20I captain in 2016, also clarified in the report that she would not have engaged in a public conversation but since a confidential report by the coach made headlines, she didn’t shy away from the Facebook post.
She has led Pakistan in 72 ODIs in which she has taken 110 wickets and scored 1370 runs.
What’s next?
It remains to be seen which of the two parties will face the music for the public confrontations, the coach or the captain.
Author’s take
While the root of the rift cannot be ascertained, the PCB, for the best interest of the team, should immediately take a call on which of the two parties is more necessary for Pakistan Women’s Cricket Team.