Birmingham: Pakistan women’s coach Wahab Riaz has called for patience during the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales.
Riaz, who took over at the start of the year, has already begun to overhaul Pakistan’s approach in the shorter format, promoting a more aggressive and proactive style of play.
Despite their 64-run loss to India in Birmingham on Sunday, there were signs of improvement, with Pakistan showing moments of control before lapses in concentration proved costly against their arch-rivals.
However, Riaz remains firm in his vision and believes the results will continue once the team fully adapts to the new demands.
“We took charge like we have in the last four months. We have taken over this Pakistan cricket team and you can’t make a lot of changes in the way they play and change the system overnight. So obviously it will take some time,” Riaz said after the defeat.
“The good thing is that we want to compete with the international standard where you have to score a lot of runs in the powerplay. You have to score at least 170 to be in the game and you have to maintain that approach.
“The message is very clear that we have to play positive cricket and fearless cricket. In this four-month period, nothing much can change.
“But the girls are putting in a lot of effort and we’re seeing some glimpses of the back-to-back series we’ve played. There are positives, but we need to finish games better. That’s where we’ve been falling down and I think we’ll catch up.”
Pakistan got off to a bright start against India as Sadia Iqbal (2/41) dismissed Shafali Verma in the first over before dismissing Jemima Rodriguez shortly after.
Openers Muneeba Ali (41) and Gul Feroza (12) added 38 runs for the first wicket, but India’s depth and consistency eventually tipped the match in their favor as Pakistan failed to live up to their early promise.
Pakistan will bounce back when they face South Africa at Edgbaston on Wednesday. Rias insisted his philosophy remains unchanged as his side continue their quest for a maiden win.
“There are glimpses of positivity and we will take it forward. It’s always a game of nerves and we work hard at it. You win one, you lose one. Unfortunately, we were on the losing side today,” he added.
“We are here to win. We have to make less mistakes and believe in ourselves. We have to play more positive and fearless cricket. There are no favorites in T20 cricket. The day you play well at key stages, you win.”