Punam Raut

It’s not hard to spot a cricket lover in India. But a woman on the field is still a rare sight. Homegrown heroes such as Sachin Tendulkar have inspired young players across India and abroad. But the fans would struggle to name any in the women team. The person who has opened numerous innings for the Indian women cricket team with her to date and surely would be doing the same in the future as well. Born on 14th October 1989, Prabhadevi Chawl in Mumbai. Punam Ganesh Raut has played numerous 0DI’s T20’s and Test matches and became a strength and role model to many girls around.

Her joining became more beautiful when her dad became her role model. She was an essential part of Mumbai and Railways’ women’s team. The stylish batter is admiringly known for playing long innings. Punam made her first ODI in 2009 and has been playing on the national side ever since. One of her leading innings came against South Africa, when she put up a 300-run opening partnership with Deepti Sharma, becoming the first pair to achieve the feat in the process. Punam Raut was a fellow of the cricket club as India’s very own hitman, Rohit Sharma.

She used to enjoy watching cricket on TV during her childhood days. Belonging to a middle-class family, she never had a cricket bat in her home and she used to take objects which looked like bats and she stepped her feet into cricket and her brother used to bowl for her. Her father’s name is Ganesh Raut, who was a car driver, as a result, the family had limited resources. Punam has two siblings, a sister named Shrutika Ghadi Pevekar, and a brother named Vipul Raut. She realized that not only the boys around but she herself is also capable of playing cricket and she lit her dreams with passion.

She noticed children going to the academy wearing white dresses. She too had the intention to take her admissions there as she would be able to gain more knowledge and skills about defense, shots, and many more skills in cricket. She took her admissions in the summer camp and started learning her basics from there. She used to get bored while going back to school as she wanted to take cricket as a profession. Nevertheless, luck glittered when Ganesh’s American boss helped him by giving Rs. 10,000, a big amount in that time. As soon as he received the money he bought Punam a new kit of shoes and outfit. Furthermore, her father even enrolled her at Shiv Seva Sports Club which was a cricket academy supervised by a coach named Sanjay Gaitonde.

There were almost 150 boys and she was the only girl getting trained there. She used to have regular practices and never had excuses to leave her training. Society always had a mentality that girls are not allowed to play cricket as it is a male-dominated game. Her neighbors were always against her and complained to her mother to teach her cooking and household. Her father always used to support her and ignored whatever they said.

An uninvited incident took place in Raut’s home in 2004. It was the sudden death of Punam’s mother. Punam’s mother passed away when she was just 15 years of age. The whole family wailed in deep sorrow. Regardless, the very next day, Punam had her first debut in the cricket trials. It was Ganesh, her father who gave her immense support and took Punam to the trials. He trusted her and encouraged her to play her game and to just focus on the game. The result was nothing more but was selected for both the Mumbai U14 and U19. From then on There was no looking back for Punam.

Punam debuted for the Indian national team in 2009 and continued to play for the Railways team and also. She has become a pillar and an imperative player at the opening position for India. There are several memorable hits in the Women’s ODI for India.

Punam Raut and Deepti Sharma wrote history by becoming the first cricketing pair to share a 300-run opening partnership in Women’s ODIs In the Women’s Quadrangular Series, South Africa. They set the record at the league match of the Women’s Quadrangular Series posting 320-runs for the first wicket in 45.3 overs. It has become the first time that a pair has scored more than  300 runs in Women’s ODI. They could have prolonged their partnership had it not been for Raut’s injury, which became a reason for her to retire from the innings but still, she managed to score her highest hit in ODI 109* runs.

Punam Raut’s extraordinary series performance came in the 2018 Women’s World Cup England, where she played some of the most consistent hits of her career. “India Gifted the World Cup to England”.

She had 86 runs in her first match against England to guide the team to an easy 7-wicket win with 45 balls to spare. Raut continued her form by scoring. She again scored 47-runs which was the highest of the match, in a low scoring match against Pakistan where India finished with 169/9. However, they went on to beat their neighbors quite amply, sending the Pakistan team for a paltry 74 runs.

Her best blow of the tournament was when she scored 106 runs in the group-stage match against Australia. Her ton, though, went in vain, as the team was defeated in the match by 8 wickets.

Raut, in the final, led from the front. India had restricted the hosts to 228 runs. They required a good opening partnership to master the tricky total. And Raut who was again ready to deliver. She scored a rousing knock of 86-runs against England to provide for a good foundation for her side to build upon. Despite, the visitors fell just short of the target, after a middle-order capitulation. Punam became the highest scorer of that match.

Women like her are always a pole of inspiration who shows that everything can be achieved with strong determination and hardwork.