Anisa Mohammed among greatest spinners ever

ANISA MOHAMMED has been around women’s cricket for over two decades and still has much to offer the sport of cricket.

Her bowling skills are exceptional, but the ability to continuously strive for improvement in the game is her biggest asset. She has been able to stay relevant despite the changes to the game over the years.

She is an easy-going person and a great mentor to the young and upcoming players. She portrays a calm demeanour while wearing a smile, even in the tense moments of a match.

The Trinidadian off-spinner made her debut for West Indies at 14 at the Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Holland in 2003.

She has established herself as one of the greatest spinners the game has ever seen and has earned legendary status among the greats in the West Indies and internationally.

In the Women ODIs format, she has taken 180 wickets in 141 matches and is ranked fourth on the all-time list of wicket-takers. She has best figures of 7/14 against Pakistan in 2011, which is the third best figures in that format.

In the shorter format, Women T20Is, she copped 125 wickets from 117 matches with an impressive economy rate of 5.57 runs per over. Her best figures of 5/10 came against South Africa in 2009.

The former TT and West Indies captain was the leading spin bowler for the West Indies women for quite a while, and the opportunity allowed her to become the first cricketer (men or women) to take 100 T20 international wickets.

She was also the leading wicket-taker in the format with 125 scalps, but she is now third on the list, having not played the format in two years. But she currently holds the record for the most four-wicket hauls – seven.

One of her greatest achievements is being part of the T20 World Cup winning team in 2016. She was outstanding in the final, recording (1/19) in her allotted four overs.

Mohammed is plying her trade with her home team Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) once again in the Women’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) for the second season.

In the inaugural season last year, TKR defeated Barbados Royals in the final by ten runs. Mohammed, as she is accustomed doing in big moments, sealed the victory for her team by claiming the last wicket and finishing with the tournament’s best figures of 3/16.

Mohammed is well-rested after taking six months off from international duty, so she will be raring to assist TKR in retaining their WCPL title. She will also be pumped to be playing matches in front of her home crowd in TT. Her clever off-spinners are crucial to the success of TKR, and so too are her leadership skills on and off the field.