The Kuwait Women’s Cricket Team- an affiliate member of ICC since 1988 and associate member since 2005, is one of the several teams that has made its debut in international cricket vs China in the 2009 ACC Women’s T20 Championship held in Malaysia. This was a memorable debut for them but for all the wrong reasons. Unfortunately, they were not able to cross the line in any of their matches, finishing at the bottom of the table. While this was a bad start, the Kuwaiti Women have garnered some happy moments later in their journey.
Current Status – Kuwait women’s cricket team
Kuwait has played a total of 14 international T20s since their T20I debut on the 19th of February, out of which they have won just 3. Their latest international appearance was on the 25th of November, 2021 against Nepal in the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai. They suffered an embarrassing loss in this match, collapsing for just 27 runs which the Nepali women chased effortlessly in just 3.3 overs with 9 wickets in hand, boosting their net run-rate considerably. This is an upsetting defeat but as they say, the bigger the setback, the stronger the comeback.
Key Players – Kuwait Women’s Cricket team
Amna Tariq
Skipper, and also currently the highest run-scorer and joint highest wicket-taker of the Kuwaiti team-Amna Sharif Tariq is a crucial part of the team not only for her all-round abilities but also for her captaincy. The 32-year-old right-handed batter & leg -spinner has scored 132 runs and picked 9 wickets in 15 and 14 innings respectively. Her skills will be a crucial factor in deciding the Kuwait team’s success in this tournament.
Maria Jasvi
Also the highest wicket-taker amongst active players, 20-year-old Maria has picked 9 wickets at an average of 24.55 which is the best amongst current players, after her teammate Madeeha Zuberi. She is a right-arm medium-fast bowler and so far, owns an economy of 5.16.
Maryam Omar
Maryam OKH Omar, the 28-year-old right-handed batter and off-break bowler has the best batting average amongst active players (17) which obviously may not be a great one but is one recorded in just 10 matches, and is higher than those of her teammates. She is expected to continue to perform and improve this figure not only for herself but also for the well-being of her team’s overall performance.
Importance – Kuwait Women’s Cricket team
As aforementioned, the Kuwaiti women have garnered very little success in their international cricketing journey so far however, this Qualifier tournament can be their turning point, and even if it isn’t, it presents them with the opportunities they truly deserve and require to continue to march forward and inspire the women in the country, most of whom are alienated from the sport.
Squad – Kuwait women’s cricket team
Amna Tariq (c)
Aakriti Bose (wk)
Venora D’Souza
Siobhan Gomez
Aaliya Hussain
Mariamma Hyder
Maria Jasvi
Zeefa Jilani
Khadija Khalil
Glenda Menes
Priyada Murali
Maryam Omar
Balasubramani Shanti
Rida Zainab
Student, Athlete, and Cricket Enthusiast.