Pakistan women’s team coach Wahab Riaz made a mind-boggling statement after the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 match against India on Saturday. Up against India, Pakistan suffered a soul-shattering defeat after being bowled out for just 55 runs while batting first. Chasing the paltry target, India overhauled the total with 7 wickets in hand, in just 8.4 overs. Riaz, speaking to reporters after the match in the press conference, surprised everyone as he said that he still feels that the Pakistan team is the best in the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup tournament.
Pakistan were no match for India in the contest, as bowlers ran riot. The likes of Shree Charni, Deepti Sharma and Prema Rawat picked up 3, 2 and 2 wickets each while Shafali Verma also bagged a solitary scalp to bowl out Pakistan for 55 in 18.1 overs.
For Pakistan, barring the opening duo of Muneeba Ali and Shawal Zulfiqar, no one even registered a double-digit score. Yet, coach Wahab Riaz feels his side is the best in the Women’s Asia Cup 2026.
“I believe that all the players in our team are very skilful, 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 will try not to 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 in the press conference.
Pakistan captain Sana Mir, on the other hand, stands poles apart from Riaz on the way the team was set up. She slammed the management for making a plethora of changes in the squad for the Women’s Asia Cup, especially after 7 players were left out. When asked about Sana’s comments, Riaz said that he has nothing to do with the skipper’s opinion.
“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 said.
“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 asserted.
Pakistan now face a challenging task to qualify for the Women’s Asia Cup semifinals. They have to win their next game at all costs, or else, it would be curtains to their campaign.
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