Punjab spinner Harleen shifts base to HP for better opportunities

Speaking to Sportline,the 13-year-old beaming Harleen explained her decision of moving to HPCA,“I have learnt all my cricket being A Punjab cricketer. Having played with top level cricketers like Harmanpreet Kaur and Harpreet Dhillion helped me pick the game well and also raised my confidence. At the same time,I would like to move ahead and pursue better opportunities at the HPCA. The HPCA officials have not only been encouraging but also very supportive. I want to use HPCA’s professional set up to the full and try to become better cricketer,said Harleen who was wearing PCA’s tee during the interaction.

Harleen who also made to the Punjab senior women’s team last season,bagged eight and 19 wickets in the last two U-19 national tournaments playing for Punjab. Harleen who started out as an offie,switched to leg-break bowling after Punjab coach Prakash Chand intervened and asked her to do so last year. He was impressed with her control and the turn she derived from the wicket. Since then,there has been no looking back for Harleen. She was Punjab’s main strike spinner at the U-19 level and paved way for lot of victories for her state team.Harleen is an athlete to the core. She used to play basketball,football,hockey and other sports for YPS and was ‘Best Athlete’ for YPS thrice.

Unperturbed by the fact that she is going away from her parents at such young age,leaving her school friends and comforts of home,Harleen shared,“I am thrilled to be part of the whole professional set up at HPCA. It gives me a high that I will be trained under professional coaches,will be exposed to modern training methods,and have lots and and lots of tournaments to play. In such a scenario,I think I am not going to miss things. Infact,I am itching to be there on the ground and learn every aspect of becoming a top-level cricketer. I want to make it to the HP senior women’s team this season and do well. Till then fingers crossed.”She idolizes Australian great spinner,Shane Warne.

Wake-up call for PCA

The reason why a young cricketer like Harleen has moved to Himachal is because the Anurag Thakur-run HPCA has been remarkable in promoting women’scricket in the last three years. Thakur (President HPCA) and Vishal Marwaha (Secretary HPCA) along with professional coaches like Jaswant Rai and Pawan Sen have been doing tremendous work in raising the standards of women’s cricket. Owing to HPCA’s modern approach towards the women’s cricket,HP’s U-19 team grabbed the national U-19 title last year,beating established teams like Delhi,Mumbai,Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. On the other hand,PCA’s approach towards its women cricketers has been dismal.Although the PCA had announced in 2011 that PCA will come up with regional academies for the women and also allocate qualified coaches at the grassroot level,but not even one such academy ever came into being. Despite the fact that a former Punjab cricketer Gulshan is one of the national selectors,no one apart from Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar made it to the India camp.It has been learnt that apart from Harleen many more Punjab based cricketers are eyeing HPCA in want of better future. And if it does happen,very soon women’s cricket in Punjab will suffer.

The domestic season for Punjab women starts next month,but there have been no preparatory camps yet.