“Cricketing bodies have marred my talent and discouraged me so much that I am forced to play within the (court) yard of my house. They have chosen to ignore me and my talent,” Ms Ishaq alleged. But that hasn't stopped her from dreaming to making it big, as she can be spotted practising regularly at a local playground in village in south Kashmir's Shopian district.
Pertinently, Ms Ishaq, who made debut at national level in 2007 in Indore, has played at least 11 matches at state-level under Zonal Cricket Academy (ZCA) in many states across India.
Being a conservative society, not many Kashmiri women participated in sports, but the trend has changed in the recent past with women, mostly from schools and colleges making their mark on cricket and football fields, among others.
Finding that she was not much interested in studies, Ms Ishaq's parents encouraged her to choose cricket as her career. If properly groomed, Ms Ishaq can very well become the first girl from the valley to play at the international level.