Pakistan women’s cricket team mentor and head coach Wahab Riaz has confidently stated that the Pakistan team is still the strong favourite to lift the silverware in the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup 2026 campaign in Dubai.
Interestingly, Riaz’s comments came after Pakistan’s seven-wicket thumping defeat to India on Saturday, September 5. Speaking to reporters after the drubbing, Riaz stated that his side would make a strong comeback against Hong Kong in their next group stage fixture.
“I believe that all the players in our team are very skillful, and they just need to trust themselves. Our next match is against Hong Kong. We will go back and discuss what we did wrong against India. We won’t commit the same mistakes. I still believe Pakistan is the best side in this Asia Cup to lift the trophy because the conditions really suit us,” Riaz told reporters after the game.
Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Sana Mir slammed the team management for making too many changes to the women’s T20I squad after the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2026. However, Riaz noted that it was the right time for them to get new faces to build the team for the upcoming tournaments.
“Sana Mir has her own opinion. I have nothing to do with that opinion. We have made changes with the future in mind. The players who were playing before, they have played a lot of World Cups and Asia Cups but we weren’t getting the results. So it was time to go with new faces and bring new girls into the mix to build the team for the upcoming tournaments,” Riaz added.
“It is not about who we left behind. We have to look at the reality. The girls who were left out weren’t performing at all. I think we did the right move by bringing new girls into the mix,” he concluded.
