New Delhi

Former Pakistan captain Sana Mir defended her controversial "Azad Kashmir" remark during the ongoing Women's World Cup, saying it was only aimed at highlighting "the challenges" faced by batter Natalia Pervaiz during her journey from the disputed region to international cricket.

While doing commentary in the Pakistan-Bangladesh match on Thursday, she said that Pervaiz comes from "Azad Kashmir" while describing her background. The remark 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.

"My comment about a Pakistan player's hometown was only meant to highlight the challenges she faced of coming from a certain region in Pakistan and her incredible journey. It is part of the storytelling we do as commentators as, where the players come from," Sana said in a statement on 'X', following the backlash.

"I did that today for two other players coming from other regions, too. Please don't politicise it. As a commentator on the World Feed, we are meant to focus on the sport, teams, and players, highlighting inspiring stories of grit and perseverance. There is no malice in my heart or any intention to hurt sentiments," she added.

The Indian fans tagged the ICC and BCCI, demanding her removal from the commentary team for "politicising" sports broadcasts.

However, on her part, Sana said her remark was blown out of proportion, and she posted a screenshot of the research source she used, which she noted had since been updated.

"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."

She added, "I am also attaching the screenshot of where I research most of my players from, whether from Pakistan or any other country. I realise that they have changed it by now, but this is what I was referring to."

India and Sri Lanka are jointly hosting women's cricket's global showpiece, with Pakistan playing all their matches in the island nation.

The controversy comes in the wake of off-field issues between the two nations in the men's Asia Cup in the UAE recently, which India won by beating the arch-rivals in the final, only to be denied the trophy by Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Mohsin Naqvi as the Indian players refused to accept the silverware from him as a mark of protest for the Pahalgam terror attack earlier this year.

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Naqvi is also the interior minister in the Pakistani government.