The Hundred Women's Competition: Scotland leg-spinner Abtaha Maqsood transcends stereotypes on debut for Birmingham Phoenix
Abtaha Maqsood has carved herself a niche with her debut in the competition, sharing the limelight with the riveting action and the newfound thrill of the format,
Representing Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred Women's Division, the 22-year-old was hailed for setting an example for other Muslim women who desire to make a mark in the sport.
Abtaha Maqsood was a last-minute registration in the competition and entered with an international reputation, having represented her national side in 14 T20I games.
She entered the fray 40 deliveries into the contest and bowled a short tight spell of five balls that only yielded seven runs. The young leg-spinner regained her composure after her first delivery was dispatched to the boundary by Deepti Sharma.
Birmingham Phoenix were defending a target of 129, which the London Spirit were able to scale with four balls to spare at Edgbaston.
Abtaha Maqsood made her debut for Scotland at the age of 19
Born to Pakistani immigrants, Abtaha Maqsood was able to break into the national side at a very young age. The leg-spinner represented the national U-17 side when she was just 12 years old.
She has gone on to become a regular in the Scotland setup with the statistics speaking for themselves. Abtaha has picked up 19 wickets in the shortest format of the game at an average of just 10.41. The youngster was also part of the Scotland side that played the 2017 Women's World Cup Qualifier.
"Glasgow-born Abtaha is one of Scotland’s most promising leg-spinners. After playing club cricket for just four months, in October 2012, Abtaha was called up to train with the Scotland Women’s Under 17s team," Scotland Cricket's website states.
Abtaha has made her mark in other sports as well. She has a black belt in Takekwando and was Scotland's flag bearer during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
She balanced her cricketing journey, which started at the age of 11 at the Pollock Cricket Club, while practicing dentistry on the side.
Abtaha is slated to be in action once again when Birmingham Phoenix face the Manchester Originals at Old Trafford on Sunday.