Exclusive: How UAE captain is inspiring school girls to play cricket

There was a time when putting together a team of women's cricketers in the UAE was as challenging as drawing football-mad Brazilians to cricket.

Now the country's women's team is making an attempt to qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup in 2024.

The Chaya Mughal-led team got off to a flying start at the ICC Women’s T20 WC Asia Qualifier 2023 in Malaysia with a nine-wicket win over Bhutan on Thursday.

The top two sides in the 11-team tournament will advance to the Global Qualifiers, the final round of qualifiers for next year's T20 World Cup.

Regardless of the team's results in the qualifiers, women's cricket in UAE has seen remarkable growth, with the national team even qualifying for the Asia Cup last year when they played Sri Lanka, Pakistan and a star-studded Indian team.

Subhan Ahmad, Advisor, Emirates Cricket Board, says there is a much bigger pool of women's cricketers in the country now.

"The numbers are increasing exponentially. We now have around 700 girls playing the sport," Ahmad, the former COO of the Pakistan Cricket Board, told the Khaleej Times.

"So the pool is increasing, the interest is developing. There is an interest from the parents especially to send their girls to the cricket tournaments which was not the case earlier," he said.

"I think we have come a long way in women's cricket. We are now regularly competing at the top level. We are providing them opportunities to play for more matches, we are providing them with top facilities to train."

Ahmad credits the ECB's development programme for the turnaround in women's cricket.

The cricket board also entrusted national captain Mughal with the responsibility of developing the game at the grassroots level.

Mughal's appointment as the Women's Cricket Development Officer has played a major role in attracting more girls to play cricket.

"No one could be better than Chaya who has been part of the system. She understands how it all works. I think seeing the UAE captain promote the sport has encouraged a lot of girls to come and play cricket," Ahmad said.

"She goes to the academies and schools to promote the sport. So now the parents know that women's cricket is played professionally in the UAE."

Mughal, a former domestic cricketer in India, frequently visits schools and colleges to draw young girls to the sport.

"Those who don't know how to get into the cricket system, we have created a pathway for them," Mughal told the Khaleej Times.

"We now have a programme called 'Get into Cricket'. It's for all aspiring female talented cricketers and even for those who don't yet know how to play, we have specialised coaching programme for them.

"At the moment, we are running two programmes, one in Dubai and the other one in Sharjah. So we are giving free training sessions to all the girls who want to play cricket. It's part of our development programme.

"I am visiting a lot of schools and colleges who have been very cooperative and they are helping us to start this programme."

Mughal, who had no idea of the existence of women's cricket in the UAE when she landed here for a job as a school teacher in 2010, is now at the forefront of a cricketing revolution.

"It's an honour and pleasure for me to get this opportunity here in this country to develop the game I love playing," she said. “Cricket is my passion and I am enjoying this role which allows me to meet young girls and encourage them to play.

"The joy and happiness that I see on these girls' faces when they play gives me immense pleasure and it inspires me to do even more for them."

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