Charvi Bhatt put down the microphone at the end of the first of the day's two T20 matches and stole it minutes before he had to interview his captain ahead of the next match.
The turnaround will be short-lived and the series of matches for a spot in the Women's T20 World Cup will be frenetic.
The days are long. She will be on deck for the toss an hour before the start at Tolerance Oval in the capital. She will then be there with her co-commentator for 40 overs and her post-match duties will also follow. These all happen to her twice in one day.
Qualifying matches in Abu Dhabi will be played every other day, which should provide some rest. But instead of resting on his days off, he heads to a studio in Dubai to provide radio commentary on IPL matches. Talk 100.3.
This amount of work speaks to a special obsession with this sport. She settles down and reflects on her role as the only female voice in the cricket commentary box in the United Arab Emirates, and how she got to this point.
“I've been watching games ever since I was a kid,” says Butt, 34. “Throughout my childhood, there was never a game I couldn't miss. That's how this game got into my blood.”
Her love of the game was inherited. As is often the case with cricket lovers, it was inherited from her parents. However, in most cases this is not the case. “To be honest, it was more my mother,” Butt says.
Mother Naina was part of a family of cricketers who used to play in Mumbai every Sunday. However, unlike her daughter, she had never played the game herself.
“It all came down to cultural thinking,” Butt says. “Her sister used to play very well and she used to go to community games, but she didn't get support. How cultural attitudes change over time. everyone knows.
“My mother didn’t really have a chance, but when I was selected in the contest, [UAE] On my part, I didn't want to miss it. I'm glad that her parents have always supported her. ”
Bhatt was two years old when her father, Ajay, a CFO at an advertising company, and her mother moved to Sharjah from Mumbai.
Despite showing an aptitude for competitive cricket during her childhood in knockabout games at family picnics, her chance to formally play cricket did not come until her final year of high school at DPS Sharjah .
A development officer had been sent to the UAE to see if there was scope to develop women's cricket. Until then, there were no defined sports for women.
“We took part in a double-wicket tournament because only two girls from our school could take part,” she says. “My partner and I won that tournament.''
The following year, scouts from the Cricket Council of Asia visited the school again to scout for potential players. Her principal reminded her of Bat, who has already left her school.
“I got a call to go to.” [Sharjah Cricket] I still remember arriving at the stadium at 6:30 that evening and being the only girl on the field. There were a lot of boys around and I was the only one.
“On the second day of the scouting process, it started to become a big deal as schools started sending in girls interested in the game.”
She joined the pioneering UAE women's team and played as captain from 2007 to 2018.
The current women's game feels a world away from the one she left six years ago, let alone the one she first faced 11 years before that.
According to the Emirates Cricket Board, there are approximately 700 women and girls who regularly play cricket in the country. The national team is doing well, with Mahika Gaur from the UAE currently playing for England.
“That's a big difference,” Butt said. “It is truly amazing to see the amount of time and resources that are being devoted to the women's game.
“A lot of girls are coming up and saying, 'Yes, this is the game we want to play.' And the career opportunities are expanding as well.
“When I was an athlete, if I wanted to continue on the field, I would have thought, 'What opportunities will I have from a career standpoint?'” I can become a trainer, physical therapist, but I haven't studied yet. ” So what else can we do? ”
The answer turned out to be a radio commentary, which was initially recommended to a Sharjah broadcaster.
“I was shown a recording of the game and I thought I would have to talk about it,” she says of her first experience calling an IPL game on 106.2.
“I thought, 'How hard can it be?' When I went into the studio, they put me on live and said, 'Why don't we do this in two overs?' Someone will attend to you, but we'll leave you alone and see what happens. ”
“It went well. I enjoyed it so much that they said we'd continue this for a week. Then we could see if we wanted to continue for the rest of the tournament.”
The following year, in 2017, she was on duty for her first live-streamed match when Pakistan women's national team hosted New Zealand in Sharjah.
“There's a huge contrast between TV and radio commentary,” Butt says. “Radio is more descriptive. You have to explain every detail to create a visual.
“Television commentary is very analysis-heavy. You analyze the game to see why certain fielders are put in certain positions, where the bowlers bowl, what the averages are.
“These are two contrasting fields, but both are interesting and rewarding.”
Although the “cultural mindset” her mother faced has evolved, she says she still faces resistance in male-dominated workplaces.
“There was a very ambivalent reaction,” she says. “There are some people like Harsha Poojary and Neeil Ojha who are very, very encouraging and help you get better.
“Then there was another group that was always trying to put you down and say, 'You're a girl, what do you know about games?' What do you know about speaking into a microphone? Games. You have to have played it to say anything about it.”
“I've been lucky to be on the other side so often. I'm the only female voice in cricket in the Middle East, so there's no one else playing cricket at this level, so I get to play a lot every day. An explanation will be provided.
“Male commentators generally don't know that I played this game. They say, 'How does she know about that game?'”
She said her happiest moment was on air when Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan was in the studio.
“He asked one of the other commentators, ‘Who is she? I wanted to know what you were doing.
“He kept coming back after the broadcast to listen to me. When he left, I remember saying, 'She's such a nice person.' She has the technical language right,' and it was then that one of the other commentators said that I had played to a good level.
“When I came back for the finals, he came back and said he wanted to broadcast with me and was so supportive. I was blown away. A legend of the game comes along and gives you a rating. There aren't many. I've been really blessed.”
While she always values Murali's words, the feedback she receives most regularly is from her two biggest fans, her mother and father.
“They always take credit,” she says. “When I meet new people, they always say, 'Does she know who she is? Has she heard this voice on the radio?' ! ”
“To be honest, my mom is my biggest critic. A few days ago, she was listening to me talk and sent me a message saying, 'You're too loud.' Please tone it down. You don't have to shout into the microphone. ” But they are very proud. ”
Updated: May 3, 2024, 6:00 p.m.