Former Pakistan cricketer Sana Mir has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to prove her innocence with respect to a comment she made during the Women`s World Cup 2025 game between Pakistan and Bangladesh. She faced a lot of backlash on social media when her comment on one of the Pakistan players being from `Azad Kashmir` went viral on social media.
Here`s what Sana Mir had said on air while mentioning the locality of one of the Pakistan players Natalia Pervaiz:
“…Captaining a very young side. Yes, they have won the qualifiers, but a lot of these players are new. Natalia who comes from Kashmir, Azad Kashmir, plays in Lahore a lot of cricket. She has to come to Lahore to play most of her cricket there.”
According to the Government of India, the region `Azad Kashmir` has been denoted as Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. So Sana Mir`s comment offended a lot of Indian users on X, and they started claiming that she needed to be fired from the commentary panel for the mention of `Azad Kashmir`.
Posting a picture that contained the player profile of Natalia Pervaiz, Sana Mir claimed how unfortunate it had been that her comments had been taken completely out of context and proportion. Here`s what she wrote on X:
“It`s unfortunate how things are being blown out of proportion and people in sports are being subjected to unnecessary pressure. It is sad that this requires an explanation at public level. My comment about a Pakistan player`s hometown was only meant to highlight the challenges she faced of coming from a certain region in Pakistan and her incredible journey. It is part of the story telling we do as commentators as where the players come from. I did that today for two other players coming from other regions, too. Please don’t politicise it. As a commentator on the World Feed, we are meant to focus on the sport, teams, and players, highlighting inspiring stories of grit and perseverance. There is no malice in my heart or any intention to hurt sentiments. I am also attaching the screen shot of where I research most of my players from, whether from Pakistan or any other country. I realise that they have changed it by now, but this is what I was referring to.”
It`s unfortunate how things are being blown out of proportion and people in sports are being subjected to unnecessary pressure. It is sad that this requires an explanation at public level.
My comment about a Pakistan player`s hometown was only meant to highlight the challenges… pic.twitter.com/G722fLj17C
— Sana Mir ثناء میر (@mir_sana05) October 2, 2025
Speaking about the game, Bangladesh Women dished out a sensational bowling performance and bowled out Pakistan for just 129. The chase was a straightforward one as Bangladesh pulled off a historic win by seven wickets.
(With ANI Inputs)