© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Pakistan cricket captain Bismah Maroof is wining the internet after a photograph showing her arriving for the ICC Women’s World Cup with her baby in her arms surfaced online.
Maroof faced India’s Mithali Raj at Bay Oval in New Zealand in the match, which India won by 107 runs Sunday. Maroof was off the mark with a boundary and India’s Deepti Sharma got her wicket.
The photograph shows her heading for the match with baby in her arms, along with cricket kits, bags and a baby cradle. Netizens lauded the picture as powerful and her fans couldn’t keep calm. “A very powerful statement of how a hand that rocks the cradle can rule the world,” commented a user.
https://twitter.com/DV_260595/status/1500322368345935873
It has amassed more than 3,500 likes since being shared by ICC Cricket World Cup on March 6 at 6:50 am.
A video showing Indian women cricket players playing with Mahroof’s baby has also captured hearts online. While Mahroof taps baby on her shoulder, Indian players are seen trying to make the baby laugh in the video.
Maroof was the first beneficiary of the Pakistan Cricket Board policy granting 12 months of paid leave and guaranteed contract extension, introduced last year. The 30-year-old cricketer was quoted as saying by Reuters, “I didn’t have any clarity about my future at that time. It seemed all’s over.”
“Then I spoke to the PCB management and (coach) David Hemp. They told me ‘You can come back. Players in Australia, New Zealand and England do come back (from motherhood),” she said.
“Without the policy, I probably would’ve quit the game by now. Now I can travel with my daughter, and with my mother around, I can focus on cricket knowing my kid is in safe hands,” she added.
