Women’s T20 Asia Cup: Who is Chaya Mughal, captain of UAE

At 36 years and 104 days, Mughal is the oldest member of the UAE team, which is making its debut in Asia Cup after reaching the final of the Women's T20 Championship in June, along with Malaysia.

Chaya Mughal (centre) with her UAE team-mates. | Photo Credit: Emirates Cricket Board

When the United Arab Emirates takes on Sri Lanka in a Women's Asia Cup fixture on Sunday, all eyes will be on its captain Chaya Mughal.

At 36 years and 104 days, she is the oldest member of the team. UAE is making its debut in Asia Cup after reaching the final of the Women's T20 Championship in June, along with Malaysia.

Hailing from Jammu and Kashmir, Mughal shifted to the UAE in 2009 and took up a job as a kindergarten teacher at a school in Duba. But she did not give up the sport.

While speaking to FemaleCricket earlier, Mughal had said that soon after hearing about the UAE women’s cricket team, she travelled to Sharjah and met coach  Mohammed Hyder. The team was leaving for Oman to feature in the first GCC women’s Twenty20 championship in December 2014, and Mughal was asked to contact them once they returned to the country.

A few weeks later, Hyder called Mughal and asked her to join the training session, and in 2015, she made it to the UAE team. A fan of Jonty Rhodes, Mughal eventually went on to become the captain of the team and is also the joint-highest wicket-taker (28 wickets) along with Chamani Seneviratna in T20Is for UAE.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so the team is really excited. The girls are on a high and definitely, everyone wants to make the most of it. We will give our best, and there’s nothing to lose,” Mughal told Emirates Cricket ahead of the Asia Cup opener.