Why Pakistan Women's Cricket Team Captain Bismah Maroof Stepped Down

Pakistan Women's Cricket team captain Bismah Maroof stepped down from her position on Wednesday owing to the team's bad performance in the latest edition of the T20 World Cup. In her six years of captaincy, Maroof led the team during many successful matches but this year's World Cup proved to be her last as the captain.

The women’s Cricket T20 World Cup was held between February 10 to February 26 in South Africa. Pakistan's team's performance was disastrous in this edition as they were disqualified in the first round, the group stage, as they lost 3 out of the 4 matches they played.

The team was heavily criticised and soon after the World Cup, the team captain Bismah Maroof resigned from her position. On her resignation, Maroof reportedly called her journey as the captain as incredible and exciting and said that she will be a part of the team as a player.

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Who Is Bismah Maroof?

Born on July 18, 1991, in a Kashmiri family, Bismah Maroof is a Pakistani all-rounder who left their studies after high school and decided to pursue her passion for cricket. At the age of 15, she got into the women's cricket national team and made her One Day International debut at the 2006 Women's Asia Cup. She made a memorable debut, scoring 43 runs in 76 balls as an opener. Her World T20 International debut happened in the 2009 RSA T20 Cup, the same year in which she played her first World Cup.

Maroof got her team gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games, two successive gold wins, after which she was made the national team's vice-captain. In 2016, she was promoted to T20 International team captain. The 31-year-old cricketer has played 132 World T20 International and 124 World ODI matches and led the Pakistani team to 16 World ODI wins, and 27 World T20 International wins. In April 2021, she took a break from cricket due to her pregnancy and was the first Pakistani cricketer to avail the benefits of the maternity leave policy of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Her daughter was born in August 2021 and in December the player was back on the field, ready to captain the team in the 2022 ICC World Cup.

Her stepping down from the position because of a single tournament despite contributing so much to the team is the sad reality of women's cricket. We must encourage and support women in sports instead of criticising them for their defeats. Meanwhile, the team is looking for a new captain and all-rounder Nida Dar is considered one of the top choices as she led the team when Maroof was unfit.