She’s our true, blue, Mumbai chi mulgi. Humairaa Kaazi has grown up battling it out on the maidaans of the city at a time when women’s cricket in India was crying out for more games, hoping for more exposure, for more acceptance. In 2023, as an integral member of the title-winning Mumbai Indians squad in the inaugural Women’s Premier League, those hours spent under the sun seem to have come good. In an exclusive interview with mumbaiindians.com, she talks about our successful campaign, the impact the WPL is having on ground, the change in younger Indian girls coming up the ranks, the support system in her parents, and much more …

There have been two major milestones in women’s cricket: the 2017 World Cup where India made it to the final, and now the Women’s Premier League. You’ve seen things change first hand. What is the difference in mindset, facilities, attitudes, you’ve seen on ground across these three phases?

The 2017 World Cup was the turning point for Indian cricket. It was an eye-opener for the BCCI to take up more cricketing assignments and tours for women in India. Before that, there wasn’t a single game where you would have witnessed the entire nation rooting behind the Indian Women’s team. Personally, as a domestic player for a long time, we suddenly had an increase in our match fees as well. And suddenly, I saw a lot of girls taking up cricket.

The WPL, in terms of impact, was much bigger than the World Cup. As cricketers, we expected crowds and people to come and watch, but we just didn’t expect the numbers. At CCI for the final, there were crowds right from 6:30pm. We saw that during the opening ceremony as well. It has brought to us a lot of joy. It was never seen before this.

Every state association now is coming up with a T20 league of their own for women for the game to grow. This is all because of the WPL. I personally haven’t seen any major girls’ tournament before the WPL. Even for Mumbai Cricket, we had a President’s Cup for women before the WPL. So all these things are coming up which is very pleasing, and helps girls have the motivation at the back of their heads to take up the sport full time because you feel that if you do well here, you could be the next one in the WPL.

The run-out you affected to get Ellyse Perry out was one of the finest bits of fielding in this season’s WPL. For Mumbai in the domestic circuit, you are one of the premier all-rounders batting up the order and bowling the crunch overs, but in an MI side filled with superstars, how did you adapt yourself to the change of roles?

Initially in the first two or three games, I would question myself saying ‘Oh I’m not getting to bat, I’m not getting to bowl. I am just in the XI’. But then I realised that being in the XI is more important, and felt that I could get just that one opportunity but I need to be ready for it when it comes about. Being at my best for that one opportunity was most important.

So that run-out which I picked off RCB to get Ellyse Perry was something special. A team is a family. You never know which member of the family you’d need the next moment. I personally wanted to be that member, where whenever the captain needed something, I was the one to step up and do it. I knew I would get only one or at best two overs to bat, given the batters we had. Because of that, my mindset was just to watch the ball, react, and express myself.

The team got on a winning roll in the first five matches, but then slipped a slight bit losing two in two. How did all of you reverse that and get the campaign back on track going into the business end?

As a team, we didn’t take a win or a loss to our heads. We would just dust those off and look forward to the next game. I would specially like to thank Nita Ambani ma’am for the comeback after the two losses. We had been to Antilia and we watched the movie ‘Creed’. The timing of that was bang on. Each and every player was inspired and took something from the movie. The way we bounced back after that was unbelievable.

As things were getting tense in the chase in the final against DC, especially around the second time-out, how were the nerves in the dugout? Were people getting edgy?

At one stage the equation for us was 36 balls, 60 runs. It then came to 24 balls, 40 runs. The difference between runs and balls was 30 initially, which then came down to 20, and then to 10. We were just counting this down in the dugout. We kept counting the overs, kiska over bacha hai? Kiska spell khatam ho gaya hai? (whose overs are remaining, who is done). There was one over we had to capitalise on as a batting unit, and that was Alice Capsey’s over at the end. All their main bowlers were done.

Nat’s (Natalie Sciver-Brunt) previous innings in the Eliminator versus the UP Warriorz was a 38-ball 72, and here in the final she scored a-run-a-ball fifty. What I have personally learnt from these two innings of hers is that she’s the same person who can play this range. She has taught me that adaptability, and how to play for the team.

The MI squad and the coaching staff could boast of some of the biggest names in the game. What was it in particular you picked from them over the course of the WPL?

I had always heard that Charlotte (Edwards) was the best reverse-sweeper of her time. She was the master. I have learnt that from her, and I now have a reverse sweep of my own in my bag. Jhulu di (Jhulan Goswami) would always tell me to keep my mind free and go out there to express myself. She was very supportive. She read a player really well. When she felt someone was low, she would go and pep them up. You know I had heard about Harry di (Harmanpreet Kaur) that she didn’t talk much to the new players and that she is very strict. But she was the total opposite. She would chit-chat and was so much fun to be around. She was such a chilled person.

And now when you see this new bunch of players fresh from the Indian under-19s, the likes of Dhara Gujjar, Jintimani Kalita, Priyanka Bala etc., what’s the difference you feel between what you were back then and how these girls are today?

When I was playing under-19s, I clearly didn’t have the confidence that a Jinti or a Dhara has. We just didn’t play these many matches back then. We had just one under-19 tournament from the BCCI. Right now they have the under-19 tournament, the under-19 NCA camp, the under-19 World Cup. They are lucky enough to be getting into this circuit.

My equation was the best with Jinti. It was a one-month camp, and everybody knew that if you wanted to look for Jinti, you had to find Kaazi, and Jinti would be around her. It was like a bromance.

One of the most heartwarming images after MI won the inaugural WPL title was that of you and your parents on the outfield posing with the trophy. For someone coming from a conservative family, what has it taken for you to be pursue the sport for over ten years and evade talks of ‘settling down in life’?

In our society, the daughters generally get married off early. My own sister, who is four years elder to me, got married at the age of 24. She is a software engineer too. So I am doing everything wrong by that logic (laughs). But I am blessed to be brought up by such parents who have gone against traditional societal norms. They have never asked me anything about marriage.

They always told me, ‘you let us know when you are done with playing, and then we will think about it’. The support they have shown me regarding my career, is something every parent should give their child. At the end of the day, they knew I was happy playing cricket. They knew I was happy standing in the sun for six hours, happy sweating in the field. They never forced me to do a 9-6 job and get into corporate life. All girls around the world deserve such parents.

My aunt would come up with different marriage proposals, and my father would tell me, ‘don’t worry, I’ll handle them’. Then he would tell my aunt that I was on tour, and that he hadn’t gotten the chance to speak to me about this proposal. He would constantly keep these things away from me. Eventually the boy’s side wouldn’t want to wait, and would go somewhere else. My father has helped me a lot here.