MUSCAT, May 25
Aiming to learn new skills and raise their games, Oman women’s cricket team had an online session with renowned Indian cricketer Punam Raut on Monday and came out more encouraged and inspired to do well at international level.
The Oman Cricket organised the online interaction with the Indian star batswoman who had featured in a world record opening partnership of 320 runs with Deepti Sharma in an ODI, contributing 109 and thus beating the women’s record of 229 (by Sarah Taylor and Caroline Atkins of England) and the standing men’s record in ODIs of 286 (by Upul Tharanga and Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka).
The session was moderated by Vaishali Jesrani, Lady Coordinator of Oman Cricket, and captain of Oman women’s cricket team.
As many as 20 Oman players interacted with Punam who shared her experiences and what all helped her grow as an international cricket player. They discussed with her ways to succeed at highest level, setting targets for self-development, how to handle pressure in critical situations, self-evaluation and technical details about batting.
Talking about the online session with Punam, Duleep Mendis, Chief Development Officer, Oman Cricket, said it was important for Oman’s women cricketers to understand the mindset of elite players so they can learn from them.
“Oman Cricket is continuously taking initiatives to develop cricket at all levels and it is committed to promoting women’s cricket in the country too,” he added.
Commenting on the importance of players’ interaction with the Indian star, Vaishali said: “This was a huge opportunity for our players. Punam focused on important topics like setting individual goals and handling pressure. Our girls had so much to learn from her and it was heartening to see that Punam motivated them to take their cricket more seriously to succeed at international level.”
Punam has played 2 Tests, 71 ODIs and 35 T20I for India so far.
Our girls had so much to learn from her and it was heartening to see that Punam motivated them to take their cricket more seriously to succeed at international level
Vaishali JesraniOman women’s team captain
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