Hong Kong’s Yasmin Daswani puts law career on hold to pursue T20 World Cup cricket dreams
The 23-year-old is playing a starring role for her team in the East Asian Women’s Cup with two MVP performances with the bat
Yasmin Daswani put a promising law career on hold to play cricket for Hong Kong. And after two player of the match performances this week, she knows she made the right decision.
But Daswani is looking beyond Sunday’s final of the East Asian Women’s T20 Cup against Japan. She is hoping to help Hong Kong qualify for the World Cup.
Such an achievement would be a dream come true, not only for Daswani but for the colleagues she feels have sacrificed even more than the 23-year-old former Island School student.
“My teammates work very hard for each other. They have full time jobs and for many the pay is low. We are not professional athletes and we need to train before and after work.”
“If we can fulfil our goals and reach the World Cup then definitely all the sacrifices and hard work would be worthwhile.”
Hong Kong take on Japan in the Cup final at Mission Road with Daswani once again expected to play an important role.
Daswani had completed her internship in law, having previously graduated from Durham University in England. She was about to start work as a full-time lawyer in London but the prospect of playing for Hong Kong at a World Cup was too tempting.
She took a year off and is now setting her sights on November’s ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers Asia Region in Bangkok, where they face hosts Thailand, Nepal, China and the United Arab Emirates.
The winners will advance to the global qualifying tournament.
Daswani made an immediate impact for Hong Kong in the East Asian tournament, scoring 71 not out in her team’s 86-run victory over China.
She follow up with 77 against South Korea as Hong Kong won by 93 runs and earned a place in the final. Their final match against Japan was called off on Saturday because of bad weather but both teams did enough to reach the final.
Daswani is hoping to continue her good form in the final but is grateful for the chance to be in the Hong Kong team in the first place.
“I didn’t play well previously and I was dropped from the team,” she said. “That made me work even harder to get back in the squad. The competition is tough and I’m delighted to be back in and score some important runs for Hong Kong.”
