Girls in Green Nain Abidi and Nida Dar talk cricket and more

Pakistan women’s cricket team stars Nida Dar and Nain Abidi stopped by our studios today where we had a chat with them about cricket, their love for the game and the landscape for women’s cricket in Pakistan.

These two are no new names in the world of cricket. All-rounder Nida and batswoman Nain have represented Pakistan against all major teams in all corners of the world, and they have no plans of slowing down.

In a country where sport, especially cricket, is still largely considered a men’s domain, we were really curious to know what motivated these Girls in Green to take up cricket as a profession and way of life.

So what inspired them to become professional cricketers?

“I used to play cricket with my brothers when I was small, but Shahid Afridi was the main reason I wanted to play cricket,” laughs Nida, who is a big fan of the flamboyant all-rounder (by the way, she likes to be called Lady Lala Boom Boom—yes, she’s a very, very big fan).  

For Nain, it was the moment when Imran Khan lifted the 1992 World Cup trophy that she realized she wanted to play cricket for her country.

“And Jonty Rhodes as well, I grew up idolizing him and used to practice diving just like him,” says Nain.

Given the lack of infrastructure and support for professional women’s sports in Pakistan, how did they overcome the barriers on the way to becoming international cricketers?

“It was always hard to find girls who were interested in playing cricket, so I used to play with boys,” says Nida. In fact, it’s always a good thing to play with boys because you learn more techniques and skills from them, she says. Even today many women’s cricketers, including herself, play with U-19 and U-17 men’s teams.

Nain, too, says she grew up playing cricket with both boys and girls. “Back then there were even fewer women players. Today’s it’s a lot better because more women are now actively interested in playing sports,” she adds.

How did they juggle studies with cricket?

“Well that was always a challenge, but I somehow managed and never neglected my studies,” says Nida. She holds an M.Sc. in Sports Sciences from Punjab University and is proud of it.  

Nain has an M.Sc. in Health and Physical education. And what’s more, she and Nida are also certified Level 1 coaches.

How's coaching as a career option down the road?

Really good, the girls say. Both of them love to coach and believe it broadens their cricketing career. “It’s good for women’s cricket as well, because we get to coach and train aspiring female cricketers who might not be able to get any training otherwise,” they say.

Best moment in your cricket careers?

Nida says it’s when she helped Pakistan win the gold medal at Asian Games 2010. Pakistan team won the final by 10 wickets and she opened the batting.

For Nain, the highlight of her career was when she became the first ever Pakistani to score a century in women’s one-day international cricket. “It felt unreal when I achieved that feat in Ireland against the home team,” she reminisces with a smile.

Favourite cricketers?

“Afridi, of course,” says Lady Lala.

“Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Rahul Dravid and Jonty Rhodes,” says Nain.

What’s a typical day on tour like?

All days start with training, but on match day nerves run high, the girls say.

“No matter how big or small the opponent team is, stakes are always high. Winning against a strong team is always memorable, but the thought of losing is always scary too,” Nain says.

“Cricket can be such an unpredictable game sometimes,” she adds.

And of course, who can forget Pakistan women’s victory against India in the T20 World Cup earlier this year!

“That was fantastic, we played our very best, and couldn’t sleep because of the nerves the night before and because of happiness the next night,” Nain laughs.

Any suggestions for promoting women’s cricket in Pakistan? Any projects they're working on that will help more women take up cricket?

“We need more cricket clubs all over Pakistan for women,” says Nida, who has founded her own cricket club in her hometown of Gujranwala where both boys and girls are coached.

Nain says there should be cricket for girls in schools, colleges and universities. “All live international matches should be broadcast on TV. We have really poor marketing for women’s cricket in Pakistan. We need more sponsors to promote us and our game so that we get more limelight and can inspire more women to play cricket,” she says.

“You know what? In that T20 World Cup match against India we played with plain bats. No sponsors,” Nain adds.

But she recognises the government’s efforts to promote the sport and tells us the Pakistan women’s team was rewarded by the government after winning gold medals at Asian Games 2010 and 2014.

Nain ended the conversation with a brilliant suggestion. When we mentioned the dearth of international cricket in Pakistan as one of the reasons why the sport is suffering here, Nain said the government should try to invite international women’s cricket teams to Pakistan.

“I mean, why not? It’d be awesome to have female cricketers from different countries visit Pakistan and play against us with media coverage. It’d be great for the crowds, great for the grounds, great for the sponsors, and the best part? The cricket-deprived people here would finally get to see some international cricket. It’d also make women’s cricket more popular,” she says, adding that the recently touring Bangladesh team was provided the very best security measures.

Indeed, why not? So much to gain. It would be a win-win situation for everyone and hopefully more women will be drawn to the nation’s favourite game. We wish Nida and Nain all the best for the ongoing State Bank of Pakistan Women Cricket Championship and, of course, for all their future matches. Keep making the nation proud, Girls in Green!