Former India women's cricket captain Mamatha Maben will coach the Chinese national side for the 2010 Asian Games

 Like the protagonist of the Hindi flick Chandni Chowk to China, Mamatha Maben sees her new China assignment as the start of a new innings.

The popular Karnataka cricketer will be taking over as coach of the Chinese national women's team in the sport known there as Shen shi yun dong. "This is my first major assignment as a coach and I'm looking forward to it. I intend to play alongside the girls there as I am still fit enough to play," Maben said.

Maben debuted for India in 1993 but was sidelined for nearly eight years. She made a comeback to the team in 2001-02 and was rewarded with the captaincy at the age of 33, in 2003.

She was appointed coach of the China women's team following a request from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Around 20 Chinese women have been picked to form a national side and the 38-year-old Maben is expected to take up her duties in early March to prepare her team for the 2010 Asian Games to be held in China. "Initially I was not so keen on coaching the Chinese side but when they approached me and told me about the program I put in my paper," Maben told DNA.

The challenge, she says, will be language. "Initially I think I will have an interpreter, but I am keen to pick up the language because then it would be easy for me to put things across. I think the language is the key for me now," she said.

Maben is single and she says that's one of the reasons she was picked to work with the team as the Chinese association would not have to worry about her extended stay. "I think I got picked because I'm single. Cricket is my breadwinner, so I think these two things weighed in my favour along with my credentials," Maben said.

Maben believes it will take a while before the Chinese become a competitive unit. "It's a raw team, I will be starting from scratch and it's going to be quite a task. Cricket is a game of skill, one can't expect miracles but I think we are going to do a good job," said the veteran cricketer.

Nandini Kumar/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication