Srinagar: Former Pakistan womens cricket team captain turned commentator Sana Mir has clarified her comment made during commentary after a huge controversy erupted over one of her remarks during commentary for the Women’s World Cup 2025 match between Pakistan and Bangladesh at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
While on air, Mir said that cricketer Natalia Pervaiz hails from “Azaad Kashmir”. What was more baffling was that she initially said “Kashmir”; however, she corrected herself to say “Azaad Kashmir.”
“Natalia, who comes from Kashmir, Azad Kashmir, plays a lot of cricket in Lahore. She has to come to Lahore to play most of her cricket there,” she said on the official broadcast.
The clip went viral on social media in no time, and several fans tagged ICC and its chairman, Jay Shah, asking Mir to be removed from the commentary panel for the premier women’s tournament.
Finally, Sana Mir has taken into account the controversy that continues to snowball. Taking to X, the 39-year-old said that her comments are being blown out of proportion as she had no intentions of making a political statement.
“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,” wrote Sana Mir on X (formerly Twitter).
“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,” she added.
The former Pakistan captain urged fans worldwide to just focus on the sport as there was no “malice in her heart” nor did she want to hurt the sentiments of anyone involved.
“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,” wrote Mir.
“I am also attaching the screenshot 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,” she added.
Meanwhile in the Women’s World Cup 2025 match between Pakistan and Bangladesh, the latter emerged triumphant by seven wickets.
