Mumbai, Oct 2 (IANS) Former captain of the Pakistan women’s team, Sana Mir, has landed in a hot soup after making a politically-motivated reference to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) while on commentary duty during her country’s match against Bangladesh in the ongoing ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025.

Sana Mir, who was on duty in the match that Pakistan lost to Bangladesh by 89 runs in their opening match, made the controversial remark in reference to the part of Kashmir occupied by her country, which has not gone down well with Indian fans.

During Pakistan’s batting, she mentioned that cricketer Natalia Pervaiz was from ‘Azad Kashmir’, instead of ‘Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’. Initially, Mir had said that the player was from “Kashmir” but swiftly corrected herself to say “Azad Kashmir”.

A video of her comments has gone viral on social media, with the 39-year-old Sana Mir drawing flak from Indian cricket fans, with many demanding that the International Cricket Council (ICC) take action against her and remove her from the commentary panel. They have also advised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to lodge an official complaint with the ICC over her remarks and seek action. The ICC is currently headed by Jay Shah, whose father Amit Shah is India’s Home Minister.

“It is not a slip of the tongue. Initially, she said ‘Kashmir’, then she corrected herself to ‘Azad Kashmir’. She needs to be sacked. Enough is enough,” a user posted on X, formerly Twitter..

“This is one thing you can’t say on a global stage. Sana Mir has to go for this. There is nothing called Azaad Kashmir,” said another post.

The latest incident comes just days after a string of controversies between the two countries during the Men’s T20 Asia Cup, which culminated with the Indian players being denied the trophy as it was taken away by Asian Cricket Council President Mohsin Naqvi after the Indian players refused to receive it from him.

Pakistan players — Sahibzada Farhan and Haris Rauf, too– had landed in hot water with controversial gestures during matches with India.

–IANS

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