'Please don’t politicise it': Pakistan's Sana Mir forced to clarify comment on Azad Kashmir after backlash

Former Pakistan women’s cricket captain Sana Mir has given a clarification after her on-air comment during the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 created controversy. While doing commentary in the Pakistan vs Bangladesh match on Thursday, October 2, she said that Pakistan cricketer Natalia Pervaiz comes from “Azad Kashmir.”

What the hell is “Azaad Kashmir” @ICC @BCCI ?

You must take a stern action against this Pakistani commentator and send her back packing from India @JayShah @MithunManhas !! pic.twitter.com/CmeiqQmzGj

— Yo Yo Funny Singh (@moronhumor) October 2, 2025

The statement was not received well by Indian fans, who pointed out that the correct term is Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), and accused Sana of making a political remark on live TV. The ongoing Women’s World Cup is being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, with Pakistan playing all its matches in the island nation due to tensions between the BCCI and PCB.

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Sana later took to social media to issue a statement, where she said her comment was not political and had been misunderstood. According to her, she was only talking about the difficulties faced by Natalia in her cricket journey, and got the information about her hometown and other stuff from ESPNcricinfo. Sana also shared a screenshot showing Natalia’s hometown mentioned as Azad Kashmir.

Sana Mir’s statement

In her post, Sana wrote that sports should not be politicised and that she only wanted to share inspiring stories about players’ backgrounds. The former Pakistan player further added that as a commentator on the world feed, she is meant to focus on the sport, teams, and players, and their inspiring stories.

It's unfortunate how things are being blown out of proportion and people in sports are being subjected to unnecessary pressure. It is sad that this requires an explanation at public level.

My comment about a Pakistan player's hometown was only meant to highlight the challenges… pic.twitter.com/G722fLj17C

— Sana Mir ثناء میر (@mir_sana05) October 2, 2025

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This controversy comes at a time when cricket relations between India and Pakistan are already tense. The Indian men’s team refused to shake hands with Pakistan players during the recently concluded 2025 Asia Cup because of the Pahalgam terror attack that happened earlier this year. The Indian team also refused to accept their medals from ACC president Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the chief of the PCB.

The Indian women’s team is also expected to follow the same stand when they face Pakistan in the Women’s World Cup group match on Sunday, October 5.