Harmanpreet Kaur, Bismah Maroof and Chamari Athapaththu lie in wait for UAE at Asia Cup

When Samaira Dharnidharka first started out playing cricket, her coach encouraged her to follow her dream by suggesting she might be good enough to play for India one day.

UAE fixturesSun Oct 2, v Sri LankaTue Oct 4, v IndiaWed Oct 5, v MalaysiaFri Oct 7, v ThailandSun Oct 9, v PakistanTue Oct 11, v BangladeshUAE squadChaya Mughal (captain), Esha Oza, Kavisha Kumari, Khushi Sharma, Theertha Satish, Lavanya Keny, Priyanjali Jain, Suraksha Kotte, Natasha Cherriath, Indhuja Nandakumar, Rishitha Rajith, Vaishnave Mahesh, Siya Gokhale, Samaira Dharnidharka, Mahika Gaur

Now aged 15, she has already been playing international cricket for three-and-a-half years, in which time she has racked up 29 appearances.

All, so far, in the grey of the UAE. This month, for the first time, she will get the chance to face her country of origin, when UAE play the might of the continent’s elite at the Women’s Asia Cup.

Dharnidharka acknowledges the idea of facing the stars she looks up gives her goose bumps.

So, which player’s wicket would the young fast bowler prize the most? There are too many to list, she says.

“I have so many people’s names – Bismah Maroof, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana, Chamari Athapaththu,” Dharnidharka said.

“There’s so many. We are playing against big, big teams, maybe our home teams, even though we have been brought up [in Dubai].

“The idea of playing against them gives us goose bumps. It is really exciting. That is when we are off the field. When we are on it, we are all focused.”

The national team will be trying to bridge a vast gap in terms of age and experience when they make their Asia Cup bow in Sylhet.

Their squad – average age of 20 - has only just made slightly more appearances in