Pakistan Scored 106 and Wahab Riaz Saw 'Glimpses of Positiveness'

Before the Women's T20 World Cup began, Wahab Riaz laid out his vision with admirable clarity. The former left-arm quick — the man who once bowled that spell to Shane Watson in the 2015 World Cup — told his Pakistan women's team exactly what modern T20 cricket demands.

"You need to score at least 170 to be in the game," he said. "You need to score more runs in the Powerplay. You have to maintain that approach."

On June 14 at Edgbaston, 170 arrived. Just not from Pakistan. India posted 170/6. Pakistan replied with 106 all out in 17 overs. Wahab's benchmark was met — by the opposition.

Context matters here. Wahab Riaz inherited a team in crisis. Pakistan finished dead last at the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup — an eight-team field, and they couldn't beat anyone. Head coach Mohammad Wasim was sacked. The PCB, in its infinite creativity, appointed a former men's fast bowler as the women's team mentor in January 2026.

Four months is not enough to rebuild a side. Wahab knows this, and to his credit, he says it openly. But there's a difference between acknowledging the timeline is tight and treating a 64-run hammering as a glass-half-full situation.

Before the tournament, Wahab targeted a top-four finish. Pakistan are in Group 1 with Australia, India, South Africa, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands. After the India result, they need wins against South Africa, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands — and probably a healthy net run rate — just to stay in the conversation. "We are here to win," Wahab said post-match. Against India, they showed they're here to compete for stretches. Winning is a different proposition entirely.

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana didn't sugarcoat it the way her coach did. "Catches win matches," she said. "Unfortunately, we dropped catches. I think we need to improve both our bowling and fielding in the next match, as mistakes in the field can cost the match."

She's right. Pakistan dropped Smriti Mandhana twice — at 27 and at 55. Mandhana went on to score 68 off 44 balls, the backbone of India's 170. Those two drops alone probably cost Pakistan 40-plus runs. In a tournament where net run rate can decide semi-final berths, this isn't just carelessness — it's tournament-altering negligence.

Fatima called the batting "really disappointing." Consider what happened: Muneeba Ali and Gull Feroza put on 38 for the opening wicket. Muneeba made 41. After she fell, the middle order disintegrated against Deepti Sharma's historic spell. From 48/1, Pakistan crumbled to 106 all out. That's not fearless cricket or cautious cricket. That's no cricket at all.

There's something poetic about Wahab Riaz coaching women's cricket. The man who terrorised Shane Watson with 90 mph bouncers under lights in Adelaide now stands in the dugout telling Fatima Sana's team to "express yourselves" and "play your natural game." It's a different world, but the philosophy translates — or at least it should.

Wahab's aggressive instinct isn't wrong. Pakistan women have historically played too conservatively, too fearfully, particularly against the top sides. His "fearless cricket" mantra is exactly what the doctor ordered. The problem isn't the diagnosis. It's the dosage. Four months isn't enough to rewire a team's DNA. You can't just tell a side that finished last at the 2025 World Cup to play fearlessly and expect them to suddenly compete with India's Deepti Sharma and Smriti Mandhana.

The bilateral series before the tournament showed glimpses, as Wahab keeps saying. But glimpses don't win World Cups. Consistency does. And Pakistan's consistency right now is in their inconsistency — promising starts followed by catastrophic collapses.

Pakistan face South Africa at Edgbaston on Wednesday. It's not a must-win — it's a must-compete. If Pakistan produce another 106-all-out capitulation, the top-four talk becomes farcical. Wahab needs his middle order to show backbone. He needs his fielders to hold catches. And he needs Fatima Sana, his captain and best all-round cricketer, to lead from the front with bat and ball.

The irony of Wahab's position is that he's saying all the right things. Fearless cricket is the right philosophy. Targeting 170 is the right benchmark. Believing in your players is the right approach. But when your team gets bowled out for 106 in 17 overs and your best response is "glimpses of positiveness," you've crossed the line from optimism into denial.

Fearless cricket requires skill to execute. Pakistan don't lack ambition — they lack the technique to back it up under pressure. That's the four-month problem Wahab can't solve with slogans alone. He'll need results, starting Wednesday.