Ishitha Zehra becomes the first woman cricketer to carry the CTK family’s cricket tradition after being selected into the UAE Under-19 team

By K.R. Nayar

Ishitha Zehra has made the CTK family of cricketers proud. She got selected into the UAE Women's Under-19 team participating in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) U19 Women’s Cricket World Cup (CWC) Asia Qualifier 2022. It was a special moment for this family as she packed her cricket kit bag to fly out to Malaysia on Tuesday to take part in this international tournament.

Ishitha Zehra

Ishitha is the daughter of renowned cricketer-turned-coach CTK Mashood. After representing Kerala in Ranji Trophy matches, Mashood who is a banker, played regularly in UAE’s domestic cricket and has even bagged the Shyam Bhatia award for outstanding performance in UAE cricket.  What is more special about Ishitha is that she is the niece of CTK Nasir (Mashood's brother), who has inspired not only many from his family to play the game and represent Kerala and/or the UAE but also many from the UAE to blossom into outstanding cricketers. CTK Nasir established the Nucaf Tellicherry cricket team in the eighties to become the oldest and one of the strongest teams in the UAE. This team gave a platform not only to players from Kerala but all over India to display their skills.

Ishitha Zehra plays a fluent drive 

Speaking before flying out to Malaysia, Ishitha said: “I am so happy that I have become one of the cricketers from my family to have either represented a country or a state.” It was natural for Ishitha to fall in love with the game as she grew up seeing cricket bats and other equipment for the game all around her home.

CTK Mashood 

“I picked up my interest in the game from my papa. He guided me into it, and once I started playing, then like all my uncles and others in my family, I fell in love with the game,” said Ishitha, who is a right handed batswoman and a medium pacer.

A look at the names of those who represented Kerala from her family speaks of the enormity of her achievement. Her uncle CTK Abdulla, son of Mashood’s mother’s sister, was a Kerala state probable and was among the first to play cricket from the CTK family. He was followed by CTK Afsal who played Kerala state junior, then CTK Usman Kutty and CTK Mashood who played for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy.

Ishitha Zehra with coach Prashanth Braggs 

Many of Ishitha’s cousins have also earned fame from cricket. CTK Nasir’s son Nashwan Nasir played for UAE Under-15 team in Asia Cup 2005 and captained UAE Under-16 team in Commonwealth Cup tournament in Australia in 2006. Another of her uncles, CTK Farook’s son Fabid Farook is an off spinner and a middle order batsman who has scored three centuries in Ranji Trophy including a double century, and has played for Kerala and Puducherry. He is currently the vice-captain of the Puducherry team.

CTK Mashood, who is the youngest in the CTK family, and is one of the leading coaches having set up the Tellicherry Cricket Academy in Dubai, said: “We have nearly 50 cricketers in our family who had played good level of cricket and have either represented the state, university, junior state, district or for leading clubs. My brother, CTK Afzal, played junior state in the 80s. Two of my three children are into cricket. My eldest son,Thanish Nasir, is pursuing engineering in India. Ishitha is the second one, and my youngest is seven year-old Aydin Rayn. He is currently training at the Tellicherry Cricket Academy. My nephew CTK Nazil is a record holder who has bagged all 10 wickets twice, once in a Kerala district match and another in an A division league match.”

The news of Ishitha getting selected to the UAE Under-19 team evoked a nostalgic feeling in me because when her father, Mashood, was selected to play in the Kerala state junior team, I was the manager of that team's camp in Trivandrum. So to now see his daughter play for the UAE almost at the same age that I first met Mashood is special.

Skipper Ishitha Zehra (left) at the toss in a domestic match 

Ishitha, a Grade 11 student at the Indian High School, Dubai, wants to go on to present The UAE women’s senior team. “I train at the Tellicherry cricket Academy under coach Krishna Chandra (former UAE cricketer) and head coach Ajith Weerakkody (former Sri Lanka cricketer), and with ECB coaches Chaitrali and Najeeb. I want to give my best.” Her idol from women's cricket is India’s Smriti Mandhana. "All my uncles keep encouraging me and they are a constant source of inspiration.  My papa has always advised me to never be overconfident and play my natural game.”

Ishitha Zehra...aiming high 

For Ishitha who is born into a family where cricket comes naturally to everyone, she is bound to play her natural game. “I want to always be an asset not only to the UAE team but to any other team I play. Very often I train and play alongside the boys. I know I have to improve a lot,” she says. She is also aware that the CTK family’s cricketing tradition is an honour that she carries on her shoulders and that she needs to live up to its fame and name.

The UAE team is made up of skipper Theertha Satish, Ishitha Zehra, Jia Bhatia, Sanchin Singh, Mahika Gaur, Rishitha Rajith, Lavanya Keny, Archara Supriya, Avanee Patil, Indhuja Nandakumar, Rinitha Rajith, Vaishnave Mahesh, Siya Gokhale and Samaira Dharnidharka. UAE takes on Bhutan on June 3, followed by Nepal on June 4, Malaysia on June 6, Qatar on June 7, and Thailand on June 9 in the ICC U19 Women’s Cricket World Cup Asia Qualifier 2022 in Malaysia.