Women’s Asia Cup: UAE can make horror show a positive if they heed harsh lessons

The UAE started their Women’s Asia Cup campaign last week with hopes soaring that they could build on what had felt much like a coming-of-age tournament last time out.

Three games in five days later, and they are heading back to Dubai with more frustrations than memories for souvenirs from their time in Dambulla.

Their exit was confirmed on Tuesday by a listless 10-wicket thrashing by Pakistan. It had little to redeem it.

Losses to India and Pakistan were understandable, perhaps even to be expected. But the margin of defeats, as well as the fact they were previously downed by Nepal, was of concern.

Their stay in Sri Lanka was undistinguished. Yet they remain a developing team. The fact these three games will be hurting them shows they expect a higher standard of themselves these days. Just turning up and having some selfies with Harmanpreet Kaur or Shafali Verma doesn’t motivate them any more.

The lessons dealt out over the past few days might have been harsh ones, but if they are heeded it might still have been a positive experience.

Start stronger

The UAE were rightly riding a wave of optimism ahead of the Asia Cup, having pushed Sri Lanka so close for a place in the T20 World Cup on their last outing, back in May.

It needed a fast start to reinforce that feeling. It got the opposite, as they sunk to a third defeat in four matches against Nepal.

In competitions at this elite level – which the UAE only really started playing in two years ago – they have proved to be slow starters.

They lost the first two matches against Ireland and Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup Qualifier in April. They managed to rectify the damage and gave themselves a shot at qualification with brilliant performances against the Netherlands and Vanuatu.

As is often the case in Asian competition, an early loss was far more punitive than at that ICC event in Abu Dhabi. Their fitful display, and crushing defeat, against Nepal as good as rendered their tournament over before it even started.

All that followed was games against peerless India and experienced Pakistan, so there was no way back.

There was little surprise Ahmed Raza, the coach, appeared so incensed when he was on the field during the mid-innings drinks break against Nepal.

He knew the tatty display had meant all the great expectations they had for this tournament were being laid to waste.

“When you only have three games in the group stage it is important you put your best foot forward from the first game,” Esha Oza, the captain, pointed out.

“Unfortunately, things didn’t go our way from the first game. It was a hard tournament for us, but that only means we will work harder to come back better.”

Work smarter

Accepted wisdom in the commentary box was that the UAE team will benefit from exposure, and that more games like this are a good thing.

Superficially, that makes sense. But not if they are playing the same game every time. This team is a young one. Mostly teenagers. But they have played lots of matches, despite their young age.

They are growing up together, at a level that can be unforgiving at times. They need to show they are learning, and that does not happen solely by playing matches.

In between tournaments, specific improvements need to be made through targeted coaching. They would benefit, for example, from time spent with a sprint coach. They give away many runs to almost every opponent they face because of slowness across the outfield.

It was mentioned on commentary that a sharper sense of anticipation would help. That, allied to a greater flat speed would make a significant difference.

If a sprint coach could improve their explosiveness, it could give them a five-run rebate each innings. Ditto the running between the wickets.

The batting experiment

Even with such a young side, the UAE do have a few established players who they rely heavily on. Oza went past 500 runs in the calendar year in the game against Pakistan. The captain is a class act with the bat.

Theertha Satish hinted at a return to her best as her opening partner in the game against Pakistan with some sumptuous strokes. And Kavisha Kumari was their leading run-getter, along with Oza, in the tournament.

Those three have been the bedrock of the batting for so long that it has almost been to the detriment of the side. Players have either seen their opportunities for time in the middle limited or seemingly been happy to hide behind the big three.

The brains trust tried to arrest that issue by promoting Rinitha Rajith to No 3 for this tournament.

The 18-year-old is seen as a power hitter of some potential, but has had limited time to show it in her career, batting lower down the order in more of a finisher role so far.

She has scored 156 runs at 8.21, and faced an average of around five balls per game so far in her 37 match T20I career. Her past five innings have all resulted in single-figure scores, including three at the Asia Cup.

But the team must be applauded for backing her at No 3, and persist in doing so. It’s an experiment that is worth pursuing, especially if the opposition they face next are a little more forgiving than those they played in Sri Lanka.

The experiment was surely driven by an attributes over averages approach, and the upside of that could be just what the UAE need.

All she needs, as the commentator pointed out after she was brilliantly caught by Sidra Ameen in the loss to Pakistan, is a little break and she could be off and running.

Don’t let issues compound

If the UAE can achieve this, then every other sports team in world history would be queuing up to know the secret.

When things go against a side, problems tend to snowball. That was exactly what happened to the UAE in Dambulla.

Their final innings was a nightmare. Their total of 103-8 against Pakistan was on the low side, but they should still have been in the game with it. Clearly, though, their confidence was entirely shot.

A simple catch went down off the first ball. Fielders were having three grabs at balls creeping slowly to the boundaries, and still missing them.

“They had checked out,” Raunak Kapoor said, perceptively, summing up on commentary.

It didn’t help when even their good moments were unjustly ignored by the officials. They were deprived a stumping when Muneeba Ali was dismissed by good glovework by Theertha off Heena Hotchandani.

The Pakistan opener was clearly short of regaining her ground when the bail was out of the groove, yet survived, somehow, despite infinite video reviews.

Then, injury followed insult with Khushi Sharma heading off to receive medical care after jarring her knee while fielding. It was sorry stuff.

“It is about grabbing the opportunities you create,” Oza said. “When you are playing against such high-quality performers, it is important you take those opportunities because you know they are not going to make those same mistakes again.

“From the first Asia Cup we played in 2022 till now, our team has grown quite a bit. We have learnt from our experiences, and I think after this it is only upwards from here.”