UAE proud of Mahika Gaur despite losing fast bowler to England

Chaya Mughal, the captain of the UAE women’s team, says she is thrilled for Mahika Gaur after the teenage fast bowler was selected for England.

The 17-year-old left-armer capped a rapid ascent through the ranks of English cricket by this week being named in their senior squad for limited-overs series against Sri Lanka.

As recently as the start of last year she was still resident in the UAE, where she was a student at Dubai College.

She was talent scouted at a coaching clinic held at Dubai Expo 2020 by staff of the English domestic side the Thunder, who are based in Lancashire.

She was a non-playing reserve in the Manchester Originals squad for the Hundred last summer, and subsequently left Dubai on a sports scholarship to attend school in the northwest of the UK.

This summer she was part of the Thunder first team, and has also featured for the Originals in the Hundred, playing as a domestic – rather than overseas – player.

Her elevation to the full England team appeared inevitable once she was picked for their A team for a series of T20 matches against Australia A earlier this summer. However, her selection so soon has caught some in the UAE by surprise.

Gaur has been part of the UAE team for over four years having made her debut in a T20 international in Thailand when she was just 12 years old.

In the time since, Gaur, who was born in England, has played 19 T20Is for the UAE, culminating in an appearance at the Asia Cup in Bangladesh last year.

Although Gaur is now switching allegiances, the captain of the side she is leaving behind says she wishes her success for the future.

Mughal believes Gaur’s progress to the top in a Test-playing nation so soon after leaving the UAE proves the progress the country is making in