Why six-foot-four former UAE prodigy could become a cricket superstar
Jon Lewis, England's coach, believes Mahika Gaur is capable of more considering the fact that she has played for UAE in 19 T20 games.
The ICC Women's T20 World Cup in UAE came a little too early for Mahika Gaur, the 18-year older England pace prodigy as she had a side strain which didn’t allow her the chance to represent her country in a tournament where she learnt cricket in the first place.
However, coach Jon Lewis is adamant that the promising cricket star has the ability as the traits are all there in the package of six feet four inches tall youngster. “The most exciting thing about Mahika is her age. She is still only 18,” Lewis said. Maika has plenty of room to grow as a player considering her age.
“You don’t have to look past Hurley to understand the perception that comes along with being six-foot-four. Although she may be in the early stages of her cricket career we are confident that she will shine through,” he added. Well, to answer your question, this is who Mahika is. Mahika is so good and has so many other cricket abilities that she is intimidating to all of her opponents.
Mahika's T20 international career for the UAE began when she was just twelve years old, and she competed in 19 matches overall until she caught the selectors' attention back home – England.
Last year, she gained exposure due to splendid performances in her debut series for England where she took on Sri Lanka. She was on course to feature prominently for her national side during the T20 World Cup qualifiers, only for an injury to derail her expectations.
"I would have wanted her to feature in this tournament. But in the years to come, she will be an exciting cricketer for England,” Lewis stated.
Lewis, a former England men’s team pacer who represented the national outfit in 16 games across all formats of cricket, believed that Mahika’s talents were honed by the UAE cricket setup as her parents currently reside in the country.
"There was a clear sign of great potential when I first saw her. Her control within the ball for someone of age her this age, control of her body movement for someone of age this age, stood out straight away. So, she has been clearly able to put a lot of good work here as well - in (UAE),” he noted.
“Of course, a lot of that praise has to be reserved for the people who worked with her here, though. I believe she was only twelve years old when she made her UAE debut and it is quite extraordinary for a child so young to be involved in the international game of cricket.”
The England coach likewise explained how Mahika possesses bowling abilities that are outstanding.
“She (Kaiya Diddar) is very tall, I mean, she’s probably about six-foot-three or six-foot-four, a very rare feature in women’s cricket. ...a six-foot-four left-armer who swings the ball and is able to get the bounce, she is very different,” he noted.
“It’s going to improve, she will become quicker. Right now, she bowls at an average speed of around 66-67 mph. My opinion is that she will be much more effective than that.”
“I have no doubt that she will be an extraordinary cricketer. She’s already shown a lot of promise as a future top bowler. So, I have a lot of respect for Mahika, she is quite an extraordinary cricketer.”
Unique, the left-arm pacer excelled, having scalped the Indian star batters at the age of 16 with a superb figure of 4-0-27-1 during UAE’s encounter against the strongest team in the Asia Cup.
Now, Mahika’s smooth transition to the big league in England, a Test-playing country, would inspire her former UAE teammates to chase their dreams.
“If you enjoy cricket, pick up the bat and a ball as often as you can, put the hours into training and remember to aspire because with the right dream, you could accomplish so much in life. “So do it, go after your goals and do what it is you love to do.”
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