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Pakistani off-spinner Sana Mir becomes most successful women ODI’s spinner in the world By: ASGHAR ALI MUBARAK The Pakistan’s off-spinner Sana Mir has become the most successful women’s ODI spinner in the world when she dismissed South Africa’s Sune Luus in the third One-Day International of the ICC Women’s Championship in Benoni. In doing so, she claimed her 147th ODI wicket in her 118th appearance, which has helped her leapfrog Anisa Mohammed of the Windies and Australia’s Lisa Sthalekar into third place on the all-time list of most successful bowlers, behind fast bowlers Jhulan Goswami of India (218) and Australia’s Cathryn Fitzpatrick (180).Sana Mir is presently the third ranked ICC bowler, but is expected to make an upward movement when the new rankings are released on Monday, 13 May. In October last year, she had become the first Pakistan bowler to top the ICC rankings.Sana Mir made her ODI debut, eight days shy of her 20th birthday against Sri Lanka at the National Stadium in the ACC Women’s Asia Cup match. She remained wicket-less, but scored 23 runs with the bat. In her exclusive interview Sana Mir said, “My father was in Army, so, we had to move around a lot. This meant making new friends, but at the same time proving my cricket abilities to them again and again,” recalls Sana.Recalling her early days, Sana Mir said she had to overcome a number of challenges. “The journey started by proving at every street, where I played cricket, that girls could play this sport. We didn’t have any role models, girls taking part in cricket was not that common? “From street cricket to playing on the grounds and moving to stadia donning the Pakistan kit were moments of immense pride. From there, my goals started getting bigger and bigger as I started achieving results on the field. “The more your intention is to contribute for the team; the more success comes to you. This journey has taught me that keeping the team goal ahead of everything else brings satisfaction along with fame, recognition and success.” The chief selector and former captain Urooj Mumtaz stated “Sana Mir has been a great role model for our cricket, her hard work, dedication and humility is absolutely admirable”.Current chief selector Urooj Mumtaz, who captained Sana in 26 ODIs, congratulated her former colleague and called her a true inspiration for women cricketers not only in Pakistan but around the world. “Sana has been a great role model for our cricket, in fact, world cricket, her hard work, dedication and humility is absolutely admirable.“I captained Pakistan when we were just starting and it was a great help having her in my side. Sana was a calm and composed character, and these qualities have made her such a great performer.“I have really enjoyed captaining her as she had a great cricketing mind. Her achievements as a bowler don’t surprise me much since I have always felt she would go a long way considering the talent and the ability she had of applying herself under pressure.“I really want to wish her the best and hope that she continues to inspire youngsters and continues to bring laurels to the country.”Sana captained Pakistan from 2009 to 2017 and also inspired her side to Asian Games Gold medals in 2010 and 2014. As captain, she took 83 wickets in 72 ODI matches besides scoring 1069 runs.In 100 T20Is, Sana has dismissed 84 batters, including Ireland’s Laura Delany off a delivery that pitched outside the leg stump and hit top of the middle stump. The deliver was later voted as Play of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2018.Sana has completed her Bachelors in Science.Pakistani woman cricket team off-spinner Sana Mir bagged the title of the most successful women ODI’s spinner in the world after she dismissed Sune Luus from South Africa in the third ODI of ICC Women’s Championship. After taking the 147th ODI wicket in her 118th appearance, the former Pakistan women’s team captain has jumped to top sending West Indies’ player Anisa Mohammed and Australia’s Lisa Sthalekar on number three on the list of all-time successful bowlers.Overall, the Pakistan off-spinner is the third highest wicket-taker after pacers Jhulan Goswami of India (218 wickets) and Cathryn Fitzpatrick of Australia (180).Currently Sana Mir holds the third rank of ICC bowler and as per the buzz, it is likely for her to progress higher on the new rankings which will be released tomorrow, May 13, 2019.Prior to this, Mir had also become the first Pakistani bowler to head the ICC rankings in October of 2018. Sana Mir was born on 5th January 1986 is a cricketer and the former captain of the Pakistan national women’s cricket team in ODIs and T20Is. In October 2018, she became the first Pakistani women cricketer to rank number 1 in ICC ODI bowler ranking. She has led Pakistan to two Gold medals in Asian Games 2010 and 2014. She was announced Player of the Tournament at the 2008 Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier, and currently ranks 1st in the Women’s ODI Bowlers in the ICC Player Rankings. She has been in Top 20 ICC rankings for last 9 years. During her Captaincy 8 players from Pakistan have made their way into the top 20 ICC rankings. In February 2017, during the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier, she became the first Pakistan woman to take 100 wickets in WODIs. In September 2017, Bismah Maroof was made captain of Pakistan women’s ODI team, after Mir stepped down from the role. In February 2019, she became the first woman for Pakistan to play in 100 Women’s Twenty20 International matches. She is from Gilgit-Baltistan Hunza district. Sana Mir has completed her Bachelors in Statistics and Economics. Her favorites’ cricketers are Waqar Younis, Imran Khan and Jonty Rhodes. On 4 May 2009, Mir was handed the Pakistan captaincy for the Women’s World Twent20. She had formerly been vice-captain under Urooj Mumtaz, who remained in the squad. Mir’s duties as vice-captain were handed over to Nain Abidi. Mir retained the captaincy for the forthcoming ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge in South Africa. At the 2010 Asian Games, Mir led the team to a gold medal. By Winning the National Championship for the fourth time in a row, Sana Mir has become the most successful captain of Pakistan at domestic level. Her team has yet to lose a game at domestic level in the past four years. Sana Mir also led the Pakistan team to their first ever tournament wins in both the T20 and ODI formats when they played in Sri Lanka in 2011. The teams in the quadrangular cup were Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, and the Netherlands. She was also awarded the Women of the Match title in the T20 quadrangular-cup final against the Netherlands. World Cup Qualifiers 2012: The women’s team has qualified for the 2012 T20 and 2013 Women’s ODI world cup under her captaincy. For the first time ever, the team also beat South Africa, thereby, improving their world ranking from 8 to 6. At Domestic cricket, the ZTBL team has won the second BB tournament and 8th National championship under her Captaincy. This makes it 6 in a row. Sana Mir became the first woman cricketer to receive PCB Woman cricketer of the Year Award 2013. Pakistan women team showed their best performance on a European tour in 2013. The team has beaten England for the first time in any format and leveled the t20 series. The team has won 11 matches in a row. After the completion of this tour Pakistan women’s team has 6 members in ICC top 20 players ranking. At Domestic cricket, the ZTBL team has won the first ever BB tournament and 7th National championship under her Captaincy. This makes it 5 in a, Mir has become the first ever female cricketer from Pakistan to be awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2012, for her services in cricket. In October 2018, she was named in Pakistan’s squad for the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies. She has become No. 1 bowler in Women Cricket Rankings.

By Asghar Ali Mubarak

Published 12 May 2019 · 1 min read