Explained: Reason behind uncommon name of Pakistan Women's bowler Diana Baig

Diana Baig is part of Pakistan Women’s squad in ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.

Pakistan Women Cricket Team have witnessed a dismal start in the ongping ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, losing their first two matches of the tournament. The Fatima Sana-led side lost their opening game to Bangladesh Women by seven wickets and the second game to India Women by 88 runs.

One of the crucial and experienced member in Pakistan’s squad in the ongoing tournament is Diana Baig. With 61 wickets in 67 WODIs and 39 wickets in 55 WT20Is, she carries a lot of responsibility with the ball for the side. After returning with only one wicket in the first match against Bangladesh Women, she scalped four wickets in Pakistan Women’s next game against India Women on Sunday, 5th October.

Diana Baig hails from the Gilgit-Baltistan region, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and is the first cricketer from that region to represent Pakistan Women in international cricket. She is a double-international, who has played cricket and football for Pakistan at international level. After the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) was banned in 2015, Baig turned her focus towards cricket.

Reason behind the uncommon name of Pakistan Women’s bowler Diana Baig

Diana is a very uncommon name for a Muslim girl in Pakistan. During an interview with ESPN Cricinfo in 2022, the Pakistan pacer revealed that her father named her Diana after Princess Diana of Wales.

“I was born in 1995. At that time, Lady Diana [Spencer, Princess of Wales] was very popular. My father liked the name, so that’s the name he gave me,” she said.

Baig revealed that she was inspired to play cricket after reading about the Pakistan team in a magazine in 2010.

“In 2010, I was looking at a magazine and saw that the Pakistan team had won the Asian Games – a women’s team. There were pictures of the team in the magazine, and when I saw that, I got very inspired,” she said.

The 29-year-old desperately wants to help her team win matches in ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 as they did not win a single game in the previous edition.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Women will face the mighty Australia Women in their next match of the ongoing tournament on October 8 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. After two defeats in two games, they languish at the bottom of the points table.

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