India kicked off its Women’s ODI World Cup campaign with Sunday’s victory over Pakistan, but after the match, the winners were baffled by Bisma’s daughter Marouf.
Pakistani skipper’s little daughter Fatima has captured the hearts of Indian cricketers, and the ICC released a selfie of women in blue with Bismah and her baby, pushing the rivalry aside.
Little Fatima’s first cricket lesson from India and Pakistan 💙💚 #CWC22
📸 @TheRealPCB pic.twitter.com/ut2lCrGL1H
— ICC (@ICC) March 6, 2022
A video of Indian cricketers playing with Fatima also went viral on social media as Bismah carried the atima in her arms at a stadium in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand.
Bisma Marouf’s legacy goes far beyond her accomplishments on the pitch. In a society that often tells women to choose between career and family, she shows that it’s possible to have both! Such an inspiring person.pic.twitter.com/Vp7EB2iwKd
— Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) March 6, 2022
Before the match against India, Bizma spoke to Cricbuzz about how difficult it is to balance a newborn with a career. “A child needs a mother. If I had to continue my career, the question would be where would my child go? And if I’m on the field, who will take care of the child? Hiring a nanny and taking her everywhere with you is expensive, and we women cricketers do not earn enough to afford such a luxury. Our contracts help us survive and make a living, but without parental policy, it would be difficult to continue playing with a child.”
“With a child around, there is a different energy in the team, everyone feels relaxed. When you are too focused on one thing, it creates pressure on you. When you are next to a child, all your unnecessary worries disappear.
Match day! Our women in Bay Oval for #PAKWIND #TeamPakistan #CWC22 #BackOurGirls pic.twitter.com/eiWbsOQuac
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 5, 2022
India overcame a first-class swing to beat Pakistan by 107 runs and maintained a flawless record against neighbors in the Women’s Cricket World Cup on Sunday. India had won all 10 previous one-day matches between the two, but Bisma’s team threatened to lose when they cut Mitali Raj’s lead to 114-6 in the 34th over.
Newcomer Smriti Mandhana scored 52, but it was counters from junior batsmen Pooja Vastrakar (67) and Sneh Rana, undefeated 53, that helped India score a respectable 244-7.
Indian sewers kept him on his toes and spinner Rajeshwari Ghayakwad (4-31) wrecked the middle order as Pakistan got 137 with seven overs left in their serve. Teenage Indian goalkeeper Richa Ghosh has been sacked five times.
“I’m glad I won the first game, but there are a lot of things we need to work on,” Mitali said of India’s patchy behavior. “When you lose wickets like that, it puts pressure. The partnership between Pooja and Sneh brought us back. It is important that the scores are higher, and we want to solve this problem.”
His colleague Bisma said Pakistan failed to capitalize on a strong start and let India off the hook. “We gave them easy runs, we were sloppy on the pitch, we didn’t pressure them,” she said. “Our baseball needs to improve, our hitting selection wasn’t great, we’ll work on that before the next game.”