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Women's Day Special: Chaya Mughal, at the forefront of a cricket revolution
The 35-year-old bowling all-rounder now captains the UAE women's team and she is now just one step away from taking the country to the 2023 ICC T20 World Cup
- PUBLISHED: Tue 8 Mar 2022, 12:03 AM UPDATED: Tue 8 Mar 2022, 12:04 AM
When Chaya Mughal was pushed to join a training camp in her native state, India's Jammu and Kashmir, by her cricket-mad brother and father, she had no idea that her baby steps in the sport would eventually help it gain a foothold in the desert.
Mughal went on to play domestic cricket for India. But when she left her native country for Dubai to begin a new innings as a school teacher in 2010, cricket was not in her mind.
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Now more than a decade later, Mughal is at the forefront of a women's cricket revolution in the UAE.
The 35-year-old bowling all-rounder now captains the UAE women's team. And she is now just one step away from taking the UAE to the 2023 ICC T20 World Cup.
“I landed in Dubai after getting an opportunity to work here as a teacher in 2010,” Mughal, who still works at The Ambassador School in Dubai, recalled.
“Playing cricket here was not in my mind. In fact, I was not even aware that UAE had a women's team!”
It wasn't until 2015 that Mughal realised cricket still had a role to play in her life.
“I remember one of my friends in school said the UAE had a women's cricket team. I was like, 'what'? You know I was so pleasantly surprised,” she said.
“Then he gave me the number of the coach. I called him and he asked me to come and see the camp. This was in 2015. By then I had not played cricket for five years because I didn't know about women's cricket in UAE. There was no information.”
But when Mughal joined the training camp in Dubai, she showed no signs of rust.
“They were playing a match and I got an opportunity and I did well. That's how I started playing cricket in the UAE. Then I got an opportunity to play in the Gulf Cup in 2015 (in Oman). That's where I made my UAE debut and we ended up winning the tournament!”
The women's game has grown by leaps and bounds in the UAE since Mughal first started playing here seven years ago.
“When I joined the UAE cricket scene, there was a sort of casual approach from the girls. They were not too serious about it. The level of cricket was not very competitive. We were losing most matches those days and the girls were kind of okay with it,” she admitted.
“But now it's like do-or-die in every match. Everybody wants to give 200 per cent. So the approach towards cricket has changed. It changes when you develop the habit of winning games.”
Such has been the progress that Mughal's team last year earned a place in the ICC 2023 T20 World Cup Global Qualifiers after winning the Asian qualification tournament on home soil.
“All the girls are now just really raring to go after winning the 2023 T20 World Cup Asia Qualifiers. We know that now we are one step away from qualifying for the World Cup,” she said.
“I could see lot more young girls now playing cricket seriously. When we were playing the qualifiers in Dubai, I saw lot of young girls that turned up to watch us and cheer for us.”
And the day is not far when UAE girls could be seen rubbing shoulders with the world's best in high-profile women's franchise leagues.
“The Emirates Cricket Board has some great plans, I can't reveal much now. But all I can say is that if some of the girls keep doing well, there might be even opportunities to play in top franchise leagues like the Big Bash in Australia,” Mughal said.
So what will be Mughal's message on Women's Day?
“Well, I will encourage all young girls in the UAE to play because there is no difference between a male and female cricketer now. I won't be surprised in future if there will be tournaments for mixed teams where men and women will be teammates,” she said.
“That day won't be far when we all be at the same level. And I hope for a day when fans would name female cricketers as well when they are asked to name their favourite players.”
Rituraj Borkakoty is Sports Editor and has spent more than two decades writing on his sporting heroes. He also loves an underdog story, so if you have one, share it with him. He would love to bring it to life.