Abtaha Maqsood is Britain’s first hijab-wearing Muslim female to play international cricket, reports Geo News. She wants other young British Muslim girls to not hold back if they are thinking about cultural and religious obstacles and take up cricket as a profession.
Abtaha’s parents are from Lahore, Pakistan. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on June 11, 1999 — the day Pakistan won from Zimbabwe to qualify for the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup played in England and Scotland.
The 22-year-old cricketer is currently playing for Birmingham Phoenix in the new short format 200-ball cricket tournament “The Hundred” in England. Since her childhood, she used to play cricket in the garden of her house with her father and brothers.
Abtaha joined her local cricket club “Poloc” at the age of 11. Only four months after joining the club, she was selected to represent Scotland’s under-17 squad against Ireland in a T20 tournament.
Speaking to Geo, Abtaha said that her family supported her to join cricket as a profession. Abtaha said that her father is her top supporter throughout the journey.
“My dad and my mom are both massive cricket lovers. But my dad, in particular, says all sports are important,” she said.
Abtaha Maqsood also holds a black belt in Taekwondo that she acquired at the age of 11. She has participated in British and Scottish Taekwondo championships as well.
The young cricketer said she never thought of taking cricket as a career at that time. But the experience of playing cricket so far has been wonderful for her.
Talking about her choice to wear the hijab, Abtaha said that she started it at the age of 11 after she saw her mother doing the same. She, however, said that her decision to wear one was completely her choice.
“Wearing a hijab was my own choice. I went to perform Umrah with my family when I was 11, and on our way back to the UK, I saw my mum started wearing hijab. So I asked her why was she wearing that and then she told me [how it was a religious obligation], so I decided to wear one as well,” said Abtaha.
“It was really important for me at that time as it is now and I’m going to keep wearing that”, she added.
Responding to a question of whether people should focus more on her cricketing skills rather than her hijab, Abtaha said that she thinks talking about her hijab is equally important as it is the representation that matters.
“This is the first time people have really seen a woman wearing the hijab and playing cricket at the highest level, so I think it’s still important to be talked about,” she said.
“I never really had a role model who looked like me when I was growing up. I think that would have really helped me and given me a sense of belonging. So, hopefully, I can be that person for young girls now”, she added.
She told Geo that although she never came across any cultural barriers herself, she is aware that there are hurdles out there for other young Muslim girls. She, therefore, wants to be a role model for those girls.
“I really hope that people, when seeing me, could realise that it is possible to play cricket and wear hijab at the same time. And there are people out there who can support young girls through it if they really want to play cricket at a high level or any other professional sport for that matter”.
xplaining her experience in playing “The Hundred”, she said that representing Birmingham Phoenix in the tournament is the most amazing experience of her life.
Talking about her experience in the tournament so far, Abtaha said that she still can’t believe that she’s playing with some of the best cricketers in the world — a chance she never had before.
Abtaha Maqsood has represented Scotland’s national team 17 times in international T20 matches, claiming 23 wickets so far in her career at an impressive average of 12.28.
