Exclusive: Meet the UAE cricketer who has eclipsed global stars

When Esha Oza played street cricket with her cousins during summer vacations in Mumbai, few could have predicted that the young girl, whose first love was football, would go on to write her name in the history books.

The 23-year-old UAE batter became the fastest player to reach 1,000 runs in T20 internationals last month, eclipsing stalwarts like Charlotte Edwards, Sarah Taylor, Stafanie Taylor, Meghann Lanning, Bethany Mooney and Mithali Raj, the Indian legend who recently retired from the international game as the highest run-scorer in the history of women’s cricket.

Oza reached the landmark when she hit a majestic 115 off 67 balls against Qatar in the Asian Cricket Council Women’s T20 Championship in Malaysia where she played a key role in helping UAE qualify for this year’s Asia Cup.

A big admirer of MS Dhoni’s finishing ability, Oza, during an interview with Khaleej Times, revealed how boys teams have helped women’s cricket improve in the UAE.

Q. It’s a remarkable achievement for a player from an associate country like UAE to become the fastest to 1,000 international runs...

Yes, I am very happy. You know, I also became the first women’s player from an associate team to score 1,000 international T20 runs.

Q. Women’s cricket in the UAE has made huge progress in a short period. The Under 19 team have qualified for the T20 World Cup. The senior team will now play the Asia Cup this year. And you also have a chance to qualify for the senior T20 World Cup next year. What’s the secret to this amazing success?

I think we have to thank all the parents who back their girls to go and play. They back everyone during the weekends in training. They push the girls to do better. Of course, the ECB (Emirates Cricket Board) have played a major role. They have started to unearth a lot of talent in women’s cricket. In the past two years, we have played quite a lot of games with boys, and many international games as well. The coaches, the academies where a lot of girls go, they also deserve a lot of credit.

Q. It’s interesting that the UAE under 19 girls and the senior women’s team play a lot of practice matches against the boys. That must have really helped raise the standards...

We play against under 15 and under 17 boys. Obviously, the level of boys is very different compared to where women’s cricket is. So we know that we might not do too well, we might end up losing the games badly, but I think that pushed us to do much better. So when we go out to play against women’s teams, it looks much easier and we are more in control of the game.

Yes, we have to compete with the USA, PNG, Ireland, Scotland, Bangladesh and Thailand. Only two countries will qualify for the World Cup. The way Ireland and Bangladesh are playing at the moment, this will be a tough fight. But we are dreaming of qualifying for the World Cup, the Under 19 girls have done it. We are hoping that the senior side can do the same.