Mahika Gaur, aged 17, made the headlines recently as she was picked in the England squad for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka.
Mahika played for Manchester Originals in the Hundred 2023 season, playing a total of 6 matches. She took a total of 4 wickets at an economy rate of 7.38. Many people believe that Mahika is yet to make her international debut, but this is not the actual scenario!
Mahika was born in Reading, England in 2006. She made her international debut for UAE at the age of just 12 years, yes, 12 years! Her debut was against Indonesia in Bangkok. In her first 2 international matches, Mahika didn’t get to bowl a single delivery, but in her 3rd match, she indeed bowled and managed to get one wicket.
She played a total of 19 matches for the UAE side, bowling in 16 of those. Gaur also picked 9 wickets in the process at an impressive economy rate of 5.15. Mahika even featured for UAE in the Women’s Asia Cup in 2022. She was UAE’s highest wicket-taker as she picked 6 wickets from 5 innings at an economy rate of 5.95. She got the wickets of Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu and India’s Sabbhineni Meghana.
At the Dubai Expo 2020, she was talent scouted by the talent scout of the English domestic side, Thunder. Mahika stayed in Dubai till the start of 2022, where she was studying at the renowned Dubai College. Thanks to her incredible talent, she secured a sports scholarship in Lancashire, which is in the northwest region of the United Kingdom.
Since Mahika had a UK passport, she was eligible to participate in England’s domestic circuit. She featured for Thunders in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy 2023, playing a total of 6 matches. Mahika claimed a total of 6 wickets from 5 innings at an incredible economy rate of 4.72. She also got the best figures of 3/39 in the tournament. She even managed to score 30 runs from 4 innings.
Mahika even got selected for England A side which faced Australia A earlier in the year. Mahika featured 2 times in the series, going wicket less in both matches. These performances were enough for Mahika to secure a place in the Manchester Originals squad for this year’s edition. In the previous season, Mahika was named as the non-playing reserve for the Originals’ squad.
Her world-class performances in the Hundred 2023 have made sure she stays in the limelight and now she is all set to make her debut for the English side against Sri Lanka.
