Heena Hotchandani’s homecoming a huge boost for thriving UAE women’s team

Left-arm spinner was leading wicket-taker in Asia Cup qualifier, nearly six years after she last represented national team

UAE women's cricketer Heena Hotchandani at the ICC Academy in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Shortly after seeing one left-arm bowling talent head through the exit door amid great fanfare, another slipped quietly back into UAE cricket.

It goes without saying the loss of Mahika Gaur to England last year left a sizeable gap in the national team. Left-arm quick bowlers of her talent are not in ready supply anywhere.

But the sharp ascent of the women’s game in this country need not be stalled by it. Instead, they are proving adept at finding other solutions.

Last week, the UAE marched to another notable title, securing qualification to the Asia Cup on their way to winning the ACC Premier Cup title.

Their breakout performer was less a new find than a rediscovery. Heena Hotchandani was the leading wicket-taker at the tournament in Malaysia.

With her left-arm spin, she took 13 wickets in the competition – one with every 12th delivery she bowled – at an average of just 7.2 runs apiece.

It was the 23-year-old spinner’s first appearance for the national team in the best part of six years. After first playing for the UAE in the Netherlands in 2018, she moved to India to study for a bachelor's in business administration.

After three years at university, she did two more in the workplace. Now she has relocated back home to Sharjah while she plans her master’s degree.

She says she has returned a different person, as well as cricketer, because of her experiences of state-level cricket in India.

“In terms of getting into the team, it was challenging,” Hotchandani said of life in Bangalore. “The level of cricket is better there and I think that is why I grew as a cricketer.

“I was here for seven months when Covid hit, then when I went back to India there was a sudden boom because of the talks about the start of the Women’s Premier League.

“Last year it all started and now it feels like everyone is working harder to take their game to the next level. The game is so focused on T20 now. Everyone is focused on power hitting, and growing their skills.”

Hotchandani’s first experience of the sport was playing cricket in the corridor at home in Sharjah with her older brother and his friends.

When he left to study in India, she was left with no one to play with, so went to join the boys training at Sharjah Cricket Academy.

“At that time I was just enjoying myself, playing for passion, but then I realised I could do something better than this,” she said.

“I hoped I could eventually figure out a life in this. Until I made my debut [for the national team] there didn’t feel like there was a future in this.

“Then I started doing well in matches, and it felt like there was something for me. I want to do well in cricket. I want to excel and learn. That was why I made the decision to go to India.

“I want to develop as a cricketer. Why limit your skills? Why not challenge yourself? At least you are growing as a person, learning something, then coming back.”

Coincidentally, the UAE women’s game thrived while she was away. She kept track of the rapid advances they were making, which included playing matches against India et al at the last Asia Cup, as well as the Under 19s side playing at a World Cup for the first time.

Last year, it felt as though the national team had reached a watershed moment when they finally beat Thailand, after years of trying.

A few months later, Hotchandani was at the forefront as they doubled down on that success. And this match was even more tense than the last. The losers would miss out on playing at the Asia Cup later this year.

“There could have been a perception that it was a fluke UAE had beaten Thailand,” Ahmed Raza, the coach of the UAE women’s team, said.

“Their captain had been injured, didn’t bat, and there were only a couple of runs in it.

“But this time round it was far more tense. Last time, both sides had already qualified for the [T20 World Cup Qualifier], and this time round it was a semi-final so it was way more intense.

“It was deja vu from last year. We had defended once against them, so there was no reason we couldn’t do it again,

“And this time around, we had Heena, which is a great addition to this team.”

Raza, himself a former left-arm spinner of great distinction, reckons the discipline is particularly crucial in the women’s game. He points to the dominance of Sophie Ecclestone, the talismanic England left-armer, as an example of its value.

“Left-arm spin is such a hard skill in the women’s game,” Raza said. “We have been looking for a left-arm spinner who could bat as well, and Heena’s fielding is a big bonus as well.

“She had played in 2018 so this felt like a homecoming. We were lucky to have her just before one of our major tournaments.

“Her figures speak for themselves, but it was also about how her presence helped the other spinners as well. She is a leader.

“She doesn’t need an armband to be a leader, it is just the way she plays the sport.”

The UAE’s next major assignment is the T20 World Cup Qualifier. It will be played on home soil in Abu Dhabi in April, with the national team pitted into a group including Ireland, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and Vanuatu.

“We will be carrying the confidence from this tournament,” Hotchandani said.

“I think people know about UAE women’s cricket now. Post-covid, we have come a long way as a team and group.

“We know we have something, which is why we have come this far. It will be a good challenge, and our goal is to keep playing good cricket.”