Theertha Satish to captain UAE in inaugural U19 Women's T20 World Cup

New Delhi, Dec 24 (IANS) Emirates Cricket Board on Saturday announced that left-handed batter and wicketkeeper Theertha Satish will be captaining the UAE team in the inaugural edition of the ICC U19 Womens T20 World Cup, to be played in South Africa from January 14 to 29, next year.

The 18-year old Theertha had played 33 T20Is for the UAE senior women's team since 2021. Apart from her, the UAE U19 has eight more capped senior women's international cricketers in Vaishnave Mahesh, Samaira Dharnidharka, Lavanya Keny, Sanchin Singh, Rinitha Rajith, Indhuja Nandakumar, Siya Gokhale and Mahika Gaur.

"The UAE Women's team has continued to demonstrate an admirable approach to team cohesiveness where all players complement each other and deliver consistent match-winning performance.

They have taken advantage of every opportunity to showcase their positive attitude with increasing confidence. As they now take their well-earned place to compete in the ICC's inaugural U19 Women's T20 World Cup, we wish the team a very successful South African tour," said Dr. Tayeb Kamali, Selection Committee Chairman, Emirates Cricket, in an official statement.

UAE secured their place in the inaugural edition of U19 Women's T20 World Cup through a dominating, five-match clean-sweep in the Asia Qualifiers, played in Malaysia this year. They are drawn in Group D alongside India, Scotland and South Africa U19 teams. UAE will open their campaign against Scotland on January 14, followed by matches against India and South Africa on January 16 and 18.

"UAE Women have enjoyed a very successful 2022, and through these successes we are now part of history by competing in the inaugural ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup - our collective reward for all the hard work each individual has invested. However, we have no intent on resting on these successes," said Najeeb Amar, women's head coach.

The top three teams from each of the four groups will progress to the Super Six round, where teams will be pooled into two groups of six. The top two teams from each group will then progress to the semi-finals, which will be played on January 27 at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom. The final will take place at the same venue on January 29.

"Our coaching and high-performance teams continue to invest in developing each player, and we will approach each match with a firm winning-mindset. Our goal is to compete to the best of our abilities, to push those abilities and finish our Group matches in the top three (and) proceed to the Super Sixes," added Amar.

UAE squad: Theertha Satish (C), Vaishnave Mahesh, Samaira Dharnidharka, Lavanya Keny, Sanchin Singh, Rinitha Rajith, Indhuja Nandakumar, Siya Gokhale, Mahika Gaur, Avanee Sunil Patil, Archara Supriya, Rishitha Rajith, Geethika Jyothis, Sanjana Ramesh, and Ishitha Zehra