The last time Esha Oza was on the field in international cricket, she looked entirely inconsolable. Her courageous attempt to overthrow Sri Lanka and drag UAE’s women to a first World Cup had just been ended.
She traipsed from the middle of the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. She dropped her bat once she was over the boundary rope, then her right glove, then her left, and headed zombie-like down the tunnel to the dressing room.
Shortly afterwards, with the cheers of Sri Lanka’s players celebrating qualification for the main event in Bangladesh still ringing around the stadium, she was bound up in a tearful hug with her parents.
The precious young cubs of the UAE national women’s team have had 75 days to wallow in the pain of getting so near to their World Cup dream that they could nearly touch it, before having it snatched away.
On Friday they will return to action when they face Nepal in the opening match of the 2024 Women’s Asia Cup.
Their captain, who bore the weight of that emotional loss to Sri Lanka more acutely than anyone else, is itching to get back out there.
“Had we won that game, I still don’t think we’d have got over it,” Oza said of the UAE’s semi-final loss to Chamari Athapaththu and Co at the T20 World Cup Qualifier back in May. “It was 15 runs, and we would have been going to a World Cup.
“I enjoyed batting that day. Things were working out pretty well. It was a day when everything you do works in your favour. But one ball can change anything.
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UAE's Khushi Sharma celebrates after taking the wicket of Vanuatu batter Valenta Langiatu in the Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on May 3, 2024. UAE won the game by 70 runs. All images by Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Vanuatu' batter Rayline Ova is bowled by UAE's Heena Hotchandani for six. Vanuatu finished their innings on 63-8 -
UAE's Samaira Dharnidharka celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Vanuatu batter Nasimana Navaika for a duck. Dharnidharka finished with figures of 4-12 -
Vanuatu batter Rachel Andrew is bowled by UAE's Samaira Dharnidharka for first-ball duck -
UAE bowler Samaira Dharnidharka after bowling Vanuatu's Rachel Andrew for a duck -
UAE's Samaira Dharnidharka bowls Vanuatu captain Selina Solman for 10 -
UAE captain Esha Oza after taking the wicket of Vanuatu's Maiyllise Carlot for four -
Vanuatu's Vicky Mansale is bowled by UAE's Samaira Dharnidharka for one -
Theertha Satish top-scored for UAE with 44 runs -
Vanuatu's Rachel Andrew after taking the wicket of the UAE captain Esha Oza for 29 -
UAE's Rinitha Rajith scored nine before being being run out -
UAE batter Heena Hotchandani is bowled by Vanuatu's Nasimana Navaika for 11 -
UAE's Theertha Satish scored 44 runs off 42 balls -
Vanuatu's Rachel Andrew celebrates after catching out UAE batter Kavisha Egodage for 17 off the bowling of Vanessa Vira -
UAE's Theertha Satish hit three fours in her innings of 44
“One bad shot, and the game can change.”
The fact the UAE were even a game away, let alone a few runs, from World Cup qualification was remarkable. In the women’s game, they had only made it to a global qualifier for the first time two years earlier.
On their tournament debut, they managed to take the scalp of Zimbabwe, but had finished among the also-rans, seventh in an eight-team tournament. Understandable, really, given their inexperience at that level as well as the fact the majority of the side were teenagers.
Clearly, they were quick learners. The next time they played at that event, they made the semi-finals, and were only just edged out of one of the two qualifying places by an established side from a Test-playing nation.
“The one word you can link to that tournament is belief,” Oza said.
“For the players, we now believe anything is possible. Yes, we wanted to win that game, but we knew we were playing a Sri Lanka side who have obviously played a lot more cricket than we have.
“We went out there to win, but you have that fear in the back of your mind that we are playing Sri Lanka to get to a World Cup. It is either going to be you or Sri Lanka.
“How close that game went shows that, if you want it badly enough, anything is possible.”
Even the closeness of that game is fuel for her side to get better, Oza says.
“If we had lost by 100 runs, we would be sad and disappointed,” she said. “But the fact we came so close makes you assess and think ‘maybe a run here, a power play there, and we could have stopped this'.
“You think it over again and again and again. It motivates you more. Now we are at the Asia Cup, if we play Sri Lanka in the semis or final, we know we have been really close against them in the Asia Cup in 2022, then in the Qualifier we were even closer.
“This time, you might just see a different winner in these games.”
That game in Abu Dhabi was unusual for the fact the player of the match came from the losing side. Oza’s 44-ball innings of 66 in the run chase was one of the great knocks in the history of UAE cricket.
It earned her the sort of widespread recognition that her talent deserves, but which so often gets overlooked given the UAE still operate largely in the margins of women’s international cricket.
That included messages from the likes of former South Africa captain Mignon du Preez and Hayley Matthews, the outstanding West Indies player.
“They said, ‘It was a great innings and we were really hoping to see UAE make it’,” Oza said.
“That would have been two Associates qualifying, Scotland and UAE. In all the other World Cups, the men’s T20 World Cup was a 20-team tournament. The Under-19 World Cups are 16-team tournaments.
“And yet the Women’s World Cup is the only one which is a 10-team tournament. We were so close to making it to the top 10 in the world. That means we are not far behind.”
According to Ahmed Raza, the UAE coach, that narrow loss last time out has been driving everything they have done in the build up to the Asia Cup.
“Just parking that game wouldn’t have helped. It is an old cliché: we won a lot of hearts, but not the game,” Raza said.
“Esha being player of the match in that game speaks a lot about our captain. We got that close, but we have to start from scratch again.
“We gave it some time. Then we had this major tournament coming up and when we regrouped collectively, we used that game as a case study for us.
“We looked at what we did right, what didn’t go right, and at the things which Sri Lanka did better than us. Now, whenever we play a game, we take that game as a reference.”
After their tournament opener in the Asia Cup against Nepal on Friday, the UAE have group matches against India and Pakistan.
“Now we know more about what we need to do to match sides who are ranked far above us,” Raza said.
“It has given us a lot of belief that we are not far off. There was a difference of 15 runs and you can find those in so many places. You can hit more boundaries, or save three. What that game did was give us the belief we can compete against sides who are in the top 10.
“The chance to play against India and Pakistan does not come around very often. When it does, it is a very exciting opportunity.
“When we leave this tournament, whatever the results are I want people to be talking about the cricket we have played.”
UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kavisha Kumari, Khushi Sharma, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Rinitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Rishitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE fixtures for Women’s Asia Cup 2024
Friday, 19 July – UAE vs Nepal
Sunday, 21 July – India vs UAE
Tuesday, 23 July – Pakistan vs UAE
Friday, 26 July – Semi-finals
Sunday, 28 July – Final
