Just as Reva Arora walks back to the pavilion after making a quick 50 in a match,her eyes starts searching for her coach,mentor and guide; incidentally,his father Devinder Arora,who had famously coached and groomed Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh during his formative years. Obviously,Reva has a lot to thank her father for. It was during her visits to Burlton Park with her father and inter-railway championships that made her fall in love with the sport. The 19-year-old talented opener from Jalandhar arrived on the cricket scene about three years ago and after breaking into the Punjab Under-19 side the same year,has never looked back since. The innings which brought her onto the big stage was against Mumbai last year when she hammered a match-winning knock of 75 during the U-19 inter-state tournament. Subsequently,the hard-hitting batswoman was noticed by the national junior selectors and was drafted into the India U-19 probables camp under coach Anju Jain at Dharamshala in May. "The call for the India U-19 camp was a surprise for me. But the exposure was definitely enriching. The stress was not only laid on cricket techniques but also on fitness. Moreover,interaction with experienced India players during the camp acted as an added advantage," said Reva. After the camp a shoulder injury put Reva on the bench for two months. With timely rehab and physiotherapy Reva has returned back to action now. Devender said,"I never pushed her to take up cricket. It was her choice. But now that she is doing well,I would want her to pursue cricket very seriously and aim for the top-level. The BCCI has revamped women cricket in India. With so many tournaments taking place,a hard working player can really shape-up her career in cricket." Apart from playing fluent drives,Reva specializes in playing cut and pull shots to perfection. At present Reva is preparing for the North Zone Inter-State Cricket Tournament,saying: "For me performing consistently well in upcoming domestic tournaments holds the key to success. My aim will be to deliver the goods for Punjab and then secure a berth in the North Zone." With the women U-19 World Cup coming up in February and India taking part in T-20 Asian Games to be held in China in 2010,Reva's eyes are fixed on India colours: "I need to score runs in every tournament I play before the Indian U-19 team is announced in January. I will give my best and try to secure a berth in the squad that take part in the first women U-19 World Cup slated to be held next year in West Indies," she said. Jaswant to coach Punjab senior women team The Punjab senior women team will have a new coach in former Himachal Ranji Trophy cricketer Jaswant Rai who replaces Roop Basant. Forty-one-year-old Jaswant played first-class cricket from 1986 to 2000 for Himachal Pradesh. He even coached Himachal Pradesh's senior team in 2006. His brush with coaching started in 2001 when he coached Himachal Pradesh's Under-15 team in state championship. For two consecutive years,Jaswant was coach of Punjab Under-19 women team. Talking about his new role as coach of the Punjab senior women team,Jaswant said,"I have been working on Punjab women cricket more than two years now. In this time frame,I have understood the women's outlook towards the game which is quite different from men. I would try to infuse feeling of 'working as a unit' into the team." His appointment comes ahead Punjab team takes part in North Zone Inter-State cricket tournament. Punjab plays its first match against Haryana at Patiala on November 3. ENS
