Barely 24 hours after fans witnessed incredible scenes in Mumbai when India clinched a stunning Women's World Cup triumph, Chaya Mughal, the Women's Development Cricket Officer of the Emirates Cricket Board, was embraced by her emotional students in Dubai.

“These are young girls who want to play cricket, and they were so inspired by India's win that they hugged me before I began a session,” Mughal said.

“They were so excited. They were like, 'We also want to do something like this.'

“They were so inspired by how their heroes performed. Of course, they are the children of Indian expats, so they could relate to it.”

But Mughal, a former captain of the UAE national women's team who hails from the Indian-administered Kashmir, acknowledged that the impact of Harmanpreet Kaur-led team's World Cup victory will transcend the Indian expatriate communities.

“It's going to have a significant impact, not just on players of Indian origin, but on the UAE cricket overall because the kind of atmosphere that was created, with 45,000 fans turning up to watch women's cricket matches, it was something that happened in India for the first time,” she said.

“I think it's going to have a significant impact on the participation of girls in the UAE because, don't forget, India also became the first Asian team to win the Women's World Cup. So, it is a game-changer, a truly historic moment.”

While India made global headlines with their victory over South Africa in the final, the UAE women's team quietly scripted a historic moment of their own last month when they beat Zimbabwe on ODI debut.

“They beat Zimbabwe in their first ODI series; it was a historic moment for women's cricket in the UAE. It shows that these things are achievable even for associate teams,” she said.

Mughal, who arrived in Dubai (in 2010) to work as a teacher before going on to play a big role in helping women's cricket gain a foothold here, now predicts a very bright future for the game.

“Now I am very confident that cricket will go from strength to strength here (UAE) after India's win. More girls will be inspired to take up the sport,” she said.

Veteran Dubai cricket coach Gopal Jasapara has already seen the impact of India's win.

The head coach of the Dubai-based G Force Cricket Academy, Jasapara was organising an Indian tour for his women's team.

“Some of the parents had confirmed that they would send their girls. But I was flooded with messages after India won the World Cup last Sunday, now so many more parents want to send their kids with us,” Jasapara said.

The G Force team will now be brimming with talent when they play against age group teams in Gujarat next month, in the 40 overs and 20 overs formats.

Fourteen-year-old Diva Singh, a batting all-rounder, is itching to board the flight to India.

“I have never been on a cricket tour before, so I am very excited. It's a great opportunity to play against good teams (in India) and learn from them,” she said.

Another young player who can't wait to arrive in India for the matches is Saloni Hardik Pandya, 13.

“It's going to be amazing to play against top-quality junior teams in India, especially after India's World Cup win,” she said.

“I was so inspired by their victory and now I am dreaming of holding the Cup one day!”

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