Though Indian Women’s cricket team lost the finals of ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 to England, they made the nation proud like several other ‘daughters’ of the country. Right from the beginning of the tournament, the women in blue fought really well to reach finals and won crores of hearts with their performances.
Team India was on the edge of history when they needed just 38 more to win with 7 wickets in hand. But then, India started demolishing after losing the wicket of Indian opening bats-woman Punam Raut. Punam was batting exceptionally well and dismissed when she was at 86 and the rest is history.
Punam was one of the most consistent batters in the World Cup for India. But very few know that she had once participated in U-14 boys team organized by Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) as a 12-year-old.
The twist here is that Punam was secretly sent by her coach to the camp. The camp organized by MCA is in Borivali. Punam was a very talented youngster and her coach, Sanjay Gaitonde was very impressed. He soon sent her to the boys camp without telling her.
Sanjay said that he wanted to test Punam’s skills. He further added that the teenager impressed selectors there and even got selected. “She went there and stood in line with the other batsmen who were ready to bat. When her turn came, she impressed the selector Anil Muzumdar (father of domestic legend Amol Muzumdar) with her batting,” Sanjay Gaitonde said.
Anil Muzumdar asked her name when she said Punam Raut, Muzumdar asked what was she doing in boys only camp. Raut immediately started crying. “Anil then asked me about it, and I told him I just wanted to test her skills. She proved herself,” Gaitonde stated.
Punam hails from a poor family, her dad was a driver and mom a housewife. The coach agreed to teach her when she was 10, as her talent was quite evident and up and over she was passionate about the game. She was Gaitonde’s first female student. “She had a natural physique of an athlete and had a good ball sense. Hence, I agreed to teach her and she became my first girl student,” said the Mumbai-based coach.
Punam Raut trained with Rohit Sharma:
Punam used to train with boys playing for Mumbai. She played quite comfortably against them and got the chance to play India men’s star, Rohit Sharma. “Since she was the only girl in the academy, I would play her with boys like Rohit. Rohit was 12 while she was 10. They lived in the same area in Borivali,” Sanjay said.
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Apparently, this training helped her a lot as she finished World Cup as the fifth highest scorer, Sanjay signed off.