Punam Raut was not aware that it was a boys only camp. (Source: PTI)
When Punam Raut was 12-years old, she not only appeared for the Mumbai Cricket Association’s (MCA) U-14 Summer Camp Trials for boys but got also got selected after beating several boys of her age.
Her coach Sanjay Gaitonde was so impressed with her performance that he did not tell Punam that it was a boys only camp. In an interview to DNA, the coach said, “I wanted to test her skills and hence, I asked her to go,” said Gaitonde. “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.”
“Muzumdar called her and asked her name in order to write it down in the selection list. When she said Punam Raut, Anil was shocked. He asked her what she was doing there as this trial was just for boys,” Gaitonde added. “Anil then asked me about it, and I told him I just wanted to test her skills. She proved herself.”
Daughter of a driver, Punam had a natural physique for an athlete. “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 used to train with Rohit Sharma as a kid when they both lived in the same area in Borivali “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,” he said. “She was always very talented with the bat and bowled good off-spin. Not just that, I would let her bat against the boys of her age who had played for Mumbai and she easily played against that kind of pace,” Gaitonde added.
