West Indies’ Anisa keeps the family flag flying

Every time West Indies women’s cricket team travels on the team bus ahead of the World T20, the official tournament song “Watch This” is played, keeping the bunch focused on their title defence. Offspinner Anisa Mohammed, their leading wicket-taker in ODIs and T20s with Indian roots, is in form and confident the hosts can go all the way.

“We are ready … Home conditions and crowd support will really pep us up. Beating South Africa and Sri Lanka recently has given a boost to the team,” Anisa, 30, who was also part of the victorious 2016 side in India, said.

Anisa made her West Indies debut at 15. Born to parents of different religions who played club cricket, Anisa and twin Alisa followed in their footsteps. Hailing from Maraj Hill, Coalmine, a

small village in East Trinidad, father Imtiaz and mother Leela provided their daughters the best platform to learn the game.

“We would accompany them as children during their matches. First, we played soft-ball cricket and then took to hard ball. They Her twin sister Alisa has played for Trinidad & Tobago.

She is the first international, male or female, to complete 100 wickets in T20. She reached the mark at the 2016 World Cup.

T20 record: Matches: 98, Wickets: 113, BBI: 5/10, Avg: 16.40, Econ: 5.50.

always supported us, never let anything come in between our dreams,” said Anisa. While Alisa, who has played for Trinidad and Tobago, gave up the game as she pursued higher studies and got married, Anisa, a former school teacher, has a different goal.

“Marriage is not on the cards. After I quit playing, I would like to become a coach. I have a lot of knowledge and experience about the game and it would be nice to be able to pass that on and help younger players,” said Anisa.

The Caribbean pitches are likely to suit spinners, and Anisa will be key for the hosts. She took a hat-trick in the T20 series against South Africa two months ago and a match-winning 4/22 in a warm-up game against New Zealand.

“Claiming a hat-trick was a big achievement but that’s behind me ... My goal is to be economical and pick wickets so I can help put my team in a good position.”

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