UAE's oldest woman cricketer Subha Srinivasan is a true all-rounder

Denzil Pinto 14:13 27/04/2016
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  • Age no bar: Subha Srinivasan, 36, wants to continue playing for another 10 years.

    At 36-year-old, Subha Srinivasan is not just the oldest player in the UAE national set-up but also has the responsibility of being a wife and mother.

    While dedicating time to her two young daughters (Akshaya and Akshara) and husband (R Srinivasan), she also finds the time to play cricket – a sport that she

    describes as her “passion”.

    Her schedule sees her train twice a week for two hours on weekends, attend fitness programmes at Sharjah Cricket Stadium as well as play any matches. That is on top of doing the daily chores for her family.

    But it has paid dividends since making her international debut for the UAE in their triumphant Gulf Cup campaign in Oman in 2014.

    And in the on-going UAE National Women’s Twenty20 tournament, organised by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), the Sharjah Academy cricketer sits third in the rankings for most wickets with three scalps.

    That is no surprise given that she has more than 10 years of experience of playing domestically in India and once shared the same dressing room as India captain Mithali Raj in 2009.

    She admits it can be difficult combining the two roles but insists support from her family drives her on.“Whatever I’ve learnt so far in cricket, I’m grateful for but my biggest strength is my family. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be playing cricket,” she said.

    With her daughters aged six and four, they’ve not had the chance to see Srinivasan play live. It’s a day that she cannot wait for, however long it may  take. “They are toddlers and they don’t have the patience to sit and watch three hours of cricket so my husband decides not to bring them to the games,” she said.

    “My kids are very young and they know when I take out my training gear, they understand that I’m going for my matches,” she said.

    “I really can’t wait for the day they can see me play. I feel I can continue playing for another 10 years. My goal is to take each match as it comes.”

    One of her highlights was the 2014 Gulf Cup victory but it was testing times for the housewife.

    Having gone through the pain-barrier with a slight knee injury throughout the whole tournament she also had no contact with her loved ones. “When I landed in Dubai after winning the tournament, I was in tears after seeing my kids and husband after such a long week. Especially for my daughters, I had not left them since they were born so it was very difficult because I missed them,” she said.

    When she does eventually retire, Srinivasan will be look back at a career that she was grateful for.

    “The amount of devotion and sacrifices made by my husband and kids is priceless. I hope one day when my kids grow up they will learn that their mother had represented a nation for so long thanks to their efforts and sacrifices.

    “My playing career in this country would not be possible without many people in UAE cricket scene including coach Mohammed Hyder and my team-mates.”

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