Sharjah: The enthusiasm among women cricketers, who attended the selection camp to make the UAE squad in Sharjah, showed the game is making fast inroads. Over 40 women cricketers attended a camp for the tournament, from where a squad to take part in the GCC Women’s Twenty20 Championship to be held in Muscat was picked up.
This in sharp contrast to a time when UAE had to struggle find women cricketers to field a team for Asian Cricket Council tournaments. The UAE can even boast of a women cricketer in Manvi Dhodhi, who has qualified as a level one coach. Dhodhi supports UAE’s Level 3 coach Mohammad Hyder, who has groomed many women cricketers here.
“We had nearly 40 women cricketers undergo intense training at Sharjah stadium. Many acadamies in the UAE are now producing women cricketers with Sharjah Cricket Academy and Desert Cubs Academy producing the maximum number of players. It was an intense competition for the 15 member team,” she told Gulf News.
“After one and half month training we organised two selection matches for the selectors to watch and pick the final 15. The matches were of high standards and we are witnessing a general upswing in women’s cricket,” added Dhodhi, a former UAE player and will also be the manager of the UAE team for GCC Women’s Twenty20 Championship, to be held from December 15-19.
Mohammad Reda Abbas, the chief selector and executive member of the Emirates Cricket Board, after watching the action along with his team of selectors, said: “The interest in women’s cricket too is multiplying and I am glad to see their enthusiasm.”
UAE team will be led by Charvi Bhatt, who has been leading UAE women’s team at different age groups since 2008. Chairtrali Kalgutkar is the vice captain. Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and UAE will compete for the GCC trophy where each team will play four games.
“As part of the Asian Cricket Council’s development program in the region, the GCC Women’s Twenty20 championship will be played yearly amongst the Gulf countries,” said Mazhar Khan, Administrator of Emirates Cricket Board.
