While we were glued to the television for the 2022 ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, Bahrain women’s team playing just their 2nd ever T20I was breaking records. Registering an unbelievable total of 318/1 against Saudi Arabia in the shortest format, Bahrain not only registered the highest T20I total, but their top order batter Deepika Rasangika smashed the highest individual score of the format, becoming the 1st woman to cross the 150 runs mark in it.
Rasangika remained unbeaten at 161 off just 66 balls contributing to a massive partnership with the team’s Skipper and Opener Tharanga Gajanayake who scored an unbeaten 56 balls 94.
After a brilliant year of women’s cricket, Bahrain was awarded ICC’s Female Cricket Initiative of the Year Award for the Middle East for ‘Building a robust community of women cricketers.’
Reacting to the prestigious award in a conversation with GDN, Hatim Dadabai, the president of Bahrain Cricket Federation (BCF), said,
“Without a doubt, this is a wonderful, great honour,”
“Just imagine all this has happened in just three months since the women’s league was formed in December and our national women’s team just played in their first-ever T20I tournament in March.”
It is indeed a special moment for a team that played their first-ever international ICC-sanctioned tournament last month. It tells a lot about the potential the team has and how BCF which was reconstituted in the middle of 2021 has worked towards the development of the game from the grassroots level through competitions at school, and club levels in the country.
Expressing his gratitude towards Bahrain women’s team, Dadabai further added,
“This is just the beginning,”
“We want to make sure we are competing with the best on the world stage. All credit to the women’s team: they have shown that they have the talent and the ability to take on any comers. We have always known that there are a lot of talented women cricketers in the country and now, they are being given a chance to showcase their skills.”
The report by GDN also shared the reaction of the team’s manager Shaila Khan, coach Prabodha Arthavidu and the Skipper herself. While Khan agreed with Dadabai’s statement, she further expressed her gratitude towards all those who have played a part in some or the other way in the team’s achievement and added that the team’s next goal is to occupy the 1st spot in GCC and then the world.
Arthavidu told that he was over the moon when he got to know about the ICC honour and is happy to be able to contribute to the journey to help the Pearl of the Gulf (Bahrain) occupy a prominent place in international cricket. Further, the team’s Captain Gajanayake shared her excitement as she said,
“We hope to have more such achievements,”
“It is an absolute honour to captain this gifted side. The women’s league has helped us in getting the best players from across Bahrain.”
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Author of the poetry book ‘The Scent of Rhythm’, I am a passionate writer and a Sports enthusiast who writes on Cricket and plays Badminton.