UAE women’s cricket team need to pick up the pieces
Poor performance in Netherlands need to be examined and rectified
UAE women’s team has returned from the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s World Twenty20 qualifier in Netherlands emptyhanded, finishing seventh in the eight-nation tournament.
Much was expected of the team which had finished runner-up in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 qualifying series from the Asia region in Bangkok in November last year.
The performance in Netherlands shows that UAE women’s team hadn’t prepared well enough for the tournament.
Most of the players who played in Bangkok seemed to have not improved their skills. Except for Nisha Ali, Subha Srinivasan, Esha Oza and Chaya Mughal, none of the others were impressive.
UAE were bowled out for 39
and 50 against Bangladesh and Thailand, respectively.
It’s a shame for any national team to be bowled out for such small scores. It reveals that as batswomen they lacked the skills. During the period from last November up to this tournament, very few of the players have managed to sharpen their game.
Bangkok tour
Most of the batswomen have returned from the tournament not even reaching double figures.
The batting was heavily dependent on just four players. Soon after the selection of the team for the Netherlands qualifier, there was heavy criticism about the selection and it has now become clear that players who hadn’t improved from the Bangkok tour may have been picked.
That said, UAE women’s cricket has been progressing steadily since its international debut in 2007.
That had been a time when it was difficult to even get 15 women cricketers.
However, the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) refused to be disheartened by the debut performance and continued to promote women’s cricket.
The UAE women went on to become champions by winning the GCC Women’s Twenty20 Championship for two years in succession.
This sparked interest for the game among women, with many cricket academies coming forward to groom young girls. This is the time when ECB should be picking the right players and give them professional training and exposure.
Women’s cricketers need constant encouragement too and hence their top performers should be rewarded or felicitated.
The Dubai Cricket Council’s Shyam Bhatia awards had included a category for best women cricketer.
Nisha Ali, by winning five Player of the Match awards in succession to break Sourav Ganguly’s world record of four consecutive awards, has shown the way.
UAE opener Esha Oza, who is consistent in her performance, was selected for the ICC Women’s Global Development Squad in May this year.
Subha Srinivasan is proving to be a fine all-rounder with every series. The others too need to work harder to earn international fame.
The setback in Netherlands should hence be used as a stepping stone for success than be disheartened.