ICYMI: Naruemol Chaiwai and the rise of Thailand Cricket

ICYMI: Naruemol Chaiwai and the rise of Thailand Cricket originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It's been less than a week since the Women's Asia Cup started. With each match, we discover hidden gems and more stories of the players competing, specifically those from Associate nations.

Advertisement

One of those gems, according to cricket expert Arya Shah, is Naruemol Chaiwai.

Chaiwai's role in Thailand Cricket

Thailand began their Asia Cup campaign with a six-run victory over Hong Kong, defending a 120/9 and winning with a tense finish. Chaiwai was the Player of the Match for this game, acting as an integral part of that total with a 43 off 31 balls, four 4s and two 6s.

And these innings were very informative, not just because of the match stats. They told us quite a bit about Chaiwai's role in Thailand Cricket. With her mindset of "We played cricket with happiness" (Chaiwai after her 2022 Asia Cup Win over Pak), she is a player that absorbs the pressure, holds her own at the playing field, and performs when the country best needs to provide a hefty defense and total.

Advertisement

Naruemol Chaiwai, 36, has been part of the Thailand squad for years now, and has captained the national side since 2021. She was appointed captain across formats that year, post Sornnarin Tippoch's longwithstanding tenure as lead.

The road to captaincy for Chaiwai

Chaiwai's journey to leading Thailand Cricket at the highest level did not in fact start with cricket. Born in Chiang Mai, Chaiwai started off as a softball player, before she shifted her focus to cricket. But it didn't take her too long to find her footing in the game.

In 2008, she captained the U-19 team at the ACC U-19 Women's Championships, leading Thailand into the semi-finals. And that leadership earlier on, followed her into the senior role she stepped into.

Advertisement

Chaiwai made her T20I debut against Pakistan in 2018 and was Thailand's leading run-scorer at the 2018 Asia Cup. The following year, she topped the batting charts once again, at the ICC Women's Qualifier Asia. And then came her captaincy.

Thailand's growth on the international stage

Chawai has been at the centre of a Thailand side that steadily grows and continues to become more and more competitive on an international stage; especially noticeable over the recent years, with their win at the 2025 Women's Emerging Nations Trophy and the Super Six stage of the 2026 T20 WC Global Qualifier, where Chaiwai finished as Thailand's leading run-scorer and third-highest overall.

And now, at the Women's Asia Cup in the UAE.

How have Thailand fared at the Women's Asia Cup?

After Chaiwai's match-winning performance against Hong Kong, Thailand moved on to play India. Of course, it was a substantial win for India, with a 94-run haul, however, the game gave us something to think about.

Advertisement

India were at 91/1, when Thailand stepped up, taking 8 wickets for 46 runs, owing to stellar performances by Suleeporn Laomi and Sunida Chaturongrattana. Unfortunately, the team could not withhold this fight with the bat. Bowled out for 65, they were unable to keep up with India's fielding attack.

Against Pakistan, Thailand's batting was a struggle yet again. Chaiwai walked in with a 6/2 score and held the innings together with a 17 off 33 before falling at 37/4. Thailand managed to hold on to an 84/8 but Pakistan went on to win by 35 runs.

Thailand aren't suddenly the fan favourites or the best at the Asia Cup. That's not exactly the point we're trying to make here.

The point is, for a team that's been building their cricket programme for years on end, and are only just beginning to gain international recognition and status, such moments show us just how far they've come, with so much more yet to happen.

Advertisement

And Chaiwai has been there for an instrumental, monumental part of the journey. Moving across sports, to captaining the U-19 side, to a senior international batter leading Thailand across tournaments.

The results may not always go Thailand's way at the moment. However, if you're looking for gems of the tournament, Naruemol Chaiwai could be a pretty good place to start!

If you missed all the action this week you can head to our social media pages for all the latest cricket news, opinion, and commentary via our Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter).

Click here to read article