Sana Mir becomes first Pakistani woman cricketer inducted into ICC Hall of Fame

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (MNTV) — Former Pakistan women’s cricket captain Sana Mir has become the first female cricketer from the country to be inducted into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame, in a milestone that celebrates both sporting excellence and a transformative legacy.

Mir, who captained Pakistan to gold medals in the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games, was one of seven players added to the Hall of Fame on June 9. Other inductees include MS Dhoni (India), Matthew Hayden (Australia), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Sarah Taylor (England), and South Africa’s Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith.

The ICC highlighted Mir’s dual impact — with over 200 international wickets, a place at the top of the ODI bowling rankings in 2018, and a pioneering role in opening the field for Pakistani women athletes. 

She played 226 international matches between 2005 and 2019, and remains one of only nine women to achieve the double milestone of 100 wickets and 1,000 runs in ODIs.

Her rise coincided with a new era for women in Pakistan’s cricketing history. As late as the early 2000s, women were largely barred from playing sports in open fields. Mir’s leadership helped reshape the sporting landscape and inspired a generation of girls to pursue cricket professionally.

“This is a moment I couldn’t have dared to imagine,” she said in a statement shared by the ICC. “From dreaming as a little girl that one day there would even be a women’s team in our country to now standing here, inducted among the very legends I idolised — I am incredibly grateful for this honour.”

Off the field, Mir is also known for using her platform to promote mental health, speak against body shaming, and support communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her induction has been widely celebrated by fans in Pakistan and across the cricketing world as a powerful symbol of change, resilience, and representation in a sport still dominated by men.