Maroof’s ’emotional’ farewell captures legacy for Pakistan women’s cricket

Trailblazing former Pakistan women’s cricket captain Bismah Maroof says ’emotional’ farewell was for team and family.

Former Pakistan cricket captain Bismah Maroof remembers the look of befuddlement that quieted the typically beaming face of her two and a half year old daughter, Fatima, as she bid a tearful goodbye to her national teammates in Karachi on Thursday.

“She had never seen us like this,” Maroof, 32, told Al Jazeera, hours after calling time on her 17-year international career.

“Neither my teammates nor I could hold back; it was an emotional farewell as I exited the Pakistan squad and left for my hometown, Lahore. Fatima, naturally, couldn’t make sense of any of it.”

Maroof’s decision to quit international cricket came as a surprise, not least because of the timing – a day before the opening fixture of Pakistan’s home T20 international series in Karachi against the West Indies. She was part of the 16-player squad for the assignment.

“It wasn’t a sudden decision, to be honest,” Maroof, Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in women’s ODIs and T20Is, said. “I had long pondered my international retirement, and given the T20 World Cup is just four months away, it only felt fair that I walked away before the T20I series against West Indies.

“I wasn’t sure if I could sustain myself until the World Cup, so it was best I made way for the players who deserve a proper run in the lead-up to the World Cup.

“At this phase of my life,” said Maroof, who captained Pakistan in 96 matches – 62 in T20Is and 34 in ODIs, “I felt my family should take precedence, so I discussed the matter with them and gauged it as objectively as I could.

“Walking away from a team I had been part of since I first walked into it as a 15-year-old was never