For coach Nooshin Khadeer ICC U-19 women's win avenged India's defeat 18 yrs ago

Story by ATV | Posted by Aasha Khosa | Date 10-02-2023

Nooshin Al Khadeer, coach of women's IPL team

New Delhi

While the historic victory of the Indian team in the first ever ICC Under-19 Women’s Cup was dream come true for all the team members and those involved it was also therapy for the team’s coach Nooshin AL Khadeer, who nursed an old injury inflicted by the Indian women team losing the world cup to Australia, 18 years ago.

India made history by winning the ICC Under-19 Women's World Cup Under the captaincy of Shefali Burman which was recently hosted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in South Africa.

Coach and former cricketer Nooshin AL Khadeer savoured this victory as more than just a jubilation and reward for her hard work.

Speaking to the media after the Indian team’s victory, Nooshin said her mantra as a coach is to keep it simple and insist on good communication.

Nooshin Al Khadeer with U-19 Captain Shefal;i Burman

“To say right thin at the right time and not to say when it’s not needed is my strategy,” she said while speaking with different media platforms.

She worked on instilling confidence in the minds of the girls and ensuring the members' morale is high all the time. Her strategy paid and India lost just one match in the tournament and beat England in the final to lift the World Cup.

Coach Khadeer said, "The most important thing about this team is the confidence and strong morale of the players. Under no circumstances did they get upset. After a bad performance against Australia, the team resolved to play unitedly and in subsequent matches, they showed outstanding morale and willpower. We are the thing."

She said she tried to keep the regimen very simple. “We had a feeling that we could overcome all the challenges of the world.”

Thank you sir @JayShah @BCCI and @sachin_rt for the felicitation and honour . #u19WomensT20WorldCup #Champions @BCCIWomen #honored #blessed pic.twitter.com/zQ2yP4bd6U
— Nooshin AL Khadeer (@NooshinKhadeer) February 4, 2023

Nooshin Al Khadeer who hails from Gulbarga, Karnataka, and now lives in Hyderabad has been a member of the Indian team since her debut in 2002. She excelled as an economical bowler. In 2003 she was ranked No. 1 in the world, as the leading wicket-taker.

Her economy rate in the 2005 World Cup in South Africa was 3.05, and she was integral in helping India into the final, where they lost to Australia.

After her career as a cricketer was over in 2008, she got into coaching the junior teams of many states and all the women’s teams of Chattisgarh.

After the victory of the U-19 women’s team in South Africa, Nooshin had been appointed the coach of the upcoming Indian Premier League along with former Indian captain Mithali Raj.

Nooshin Al Khadeer with Mithali Raj

She is also a coach for the Franchise of IPLs.

After the Indian team’s victory, her former team-mate Mithali Raj praised Khadeer's sacrifices and hard work in ensuring a victory for the Indian Under-19 women's cricket team and lifting the World Cup.

Mithali Raj says she and Khadeer had a conversation after they were appointed as coaches of the Indian women’s team and she was keen to carry out her responsibilities well. She says she was happy to see Khadeer’s transformation from a player to a coach.Nooshin Khadeer moved to Hyderabad to develop her endurance where she began her coaching stint with the Under-16 team for two years before taking charge of Chhattisgarh's senior team.

"Players and coaches have completely different roles. This is a different profession, and I am glad I understood that early in my life. I joined the Chhattisgarh senior team because I wanted to test myself, especially to test my patience," Khadeer said.

She says, “To be a coach, you need to stay calm and have patience because I had to understand the mental state of the players and build a strong team."

Nooshin Khadeer on the field

Nooshin was in the Indian women’s cricket team when in the 2005 ICC Women's World Cup final, it lost to Australia.

She regretted not being able to win the world cup. The victory of the team that she coached is a kind of personal victory for her and healing therapy.

In 2005, Nooshin remembers, Australia set a target of 216 runs against India. However, the Mithali Raj-led team managed to score only 117 runs. In 2017, the Indian women's team reached the finals of the 2017 ODI World Cup yet didn’t register a victory.

The same was the case in 2020 ion the 20-20 cup.Khadeer made her ODI (One-Day International) debut as she played 78 international matches for the Indian women's team and took 100 wickets.

She also took 14 wickets in five Tests. Khadeer also took one wicket in 20-20 cricket. The spinner made his last appearance for India in 2008 against Australia.