Match Maiden

Born in England, after her parents moved there from Kolkata, it was quite natural that Isa Guha enjoyed cricket – her parents watched it on television while she used to chase after the ball with her brother. Guha was selected for county cricket and, eventually, for a Premier League team when she was 11 years old. Making her test debut as the first Asian woman ever on the England team at 17, she was ranked the number one bowler in the ICC Women’s One Day International rankings in 2008. Guha feels the year of 2009 was by far the best. “We won the World Cup, World 2020, whitewashed the Aussies in an ODI series, won the Ashes and became the most successful England cricket team in history,” she explains.

Three years after she stopped playing, the 29-year-old is taking the entertainment industry by storm – having hosted IPL for ITV4 in the UK as well as appearing as an expert on shows like the popular Extraaa Innings. Ask her what she sees for the future of women in sport and, she says, “World domination!”