Ayesha Naseem, who was 15 years old at the time, hoped to inspire people in January 2020. Due to her exceptional power hitting skills, she was quickly promoted to the national team. Since she hadn’t even taken part in an international game, she didn’t have any aspirations of becoming the best cricket player at the time. She merely wanted to set an example for the strict parents who prohibited their daughters from playing outside in Abbottabad, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. She wanted to take the young women from their homes to the cricket fields.
Her family relocated to Karachi after she was born in the Bagan village, and there she and her brother began playing cricket. She had previously stated to CriKETMOOD “In my hometown, girls aren’t even permitted to step outside, let alone play cricket. Ayesha received access to education and cricket in addition to having a greater support structure.
Roadblocks appeared in 2015 when her family moved back to Abbottabad and she began playing organized cricket. “When I played cricket, people looked down on me. They kept trying to talk me out of doing things and saying that I was bad for their girls. She had the option of playing from Karachi even though it was getting more difficult to pursue the sport from her home town and she had made the decision not to do so.
“What’s the use of my going back to Karachi? Many of my talented pals who I knew didn’t have the chance. I had my family’s support, and as others see how well I do, I hope they will start bringing their daughters to games as well. The parents’ confidence and backing are all that these girls require.
Ayesha Naseem is not the first Abbottabad-born lady to play for Pakistan.
In her 10-year career from 2005 to 2015, Qanita Jalil, one of Pakistan’s best seamers, played 117 international matches. Ayesha Naseem represented one of Pakistan’s most potential new talents to carry that legacy farther.
Ayesha Naseem was able to have an impact even during a brief, injury-filled career in which she frequently batted late in the order. She not only stood out from the rest of her colleagues thanks to the sheer force with which she tonked the ball (T20I strike rate of 127.12), but she also joined the elite group of female power hitters. Her most memorable performance to date was a 25-ball 43 against India during the World Cup earlier this year.
At the age of 18, shortly after the competition, she informed the Pakistan Cricket Board that she wished to stop playing the sport due to her religious beliefs. The board made several attempts to get her to change her mind, but they were all unsuccessful. Ayesha Naseem planned retirement has not yet been announced by the PCB.
She attracted the attention of female cricket fans in just four ODIs and thirty T20 Internationals. Unfortunately, she was unable to realize the dream she had as a teenager.
India
