Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Pakistan women’s cricket team on Sunday after their 3-0 ODI series sweep over Zimbabwe.
The result moved Pakistan to second place in the ICC Women’s Championship 2025-29 standings behind New Zealand.
“Heartiest congratulations to our Women’s Cricket Team on their remarkable 3-0 series victory against Zimbabwe. Alhamdulillah,” PM wrote in a post on X.
He added that the team’s performance reflected hard work, discipline and exceptional talent, and also commended Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and the team management for their support toward women’s cricket.
Pakistan completed the sweep with a nine-wicket win in the third and final ODI at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on Saturday. It was the third occasion Pakistan Women completed a 3-0 sweep in a bilateral ODI series, after previously doing so against Sri Lanka in 2017-18 and Ireland in 2022-23.
The prime minister’s post, however, drew a largely sceptical response online.
Many pointed out that Zimbabwe holds the 13th spot in the ICC Women’s ODI rankings and questioned why a whitewash against the lowest-ranked side in the top tier merited a public message from the head of government.
“Do this when they win against Australia! It would be worth tweeting,” one user wrote.
Others were more blunt. “First PM to congratulate on just winning against a low-ranked team,” said another.
“It is Zimbabwe not Australia. Why are we celebrating a series win against mighty Zimbabwe?” read one comment.
Pakistan women currently sit eighth in the ICC Women’s ODI rankings. Their recent record against top-tier sides tells a different story.
They lost the ODI series against South Africa 2-1 earlier this year, and the gap between their performances against lower and higher-ranked opposition remains a concern for many fans.
Pakistan will next face Zimbabwe in a T20I series starting May 12, with the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup also on the horizon.
