He is a bit of a maverick, having spearheaded a women\u2019s residential academy for Under-15 players since 2009.\u00a0In 17 years, this academy has produced four India internationals: Sushma Verma, Harleen Deol, Renuka Singh Thakur, and Tanuja Kanwer. Two of these four are World Cup winners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWherever we are in our lives, all four of us playing today, it is because of Pawan sir. He spent countless days and nights at the academy. He was the coach, the physio, the mentor, the trainer, and everything in one,\u201d says Tanuja, who joined the academy in 2011 at her father\u2019s insistence. Laying the foundation for what would become a feeder belt for Himachal\u2019s women\u2019s cricket was hardly straightforward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was shocked. I joined HPCA as a coach in 2007. There was a residential academy for boys at the Dharamsala stadium, where I trained the kids. Then I received a call about this girls\u2019 academy.\u00a0The initial two-three months were awkward for me. Going to coach a women\u2019s team was considered a demotion.\u00a0 Beizzati vaali baat hai girls team mein daal rahein hain\u00a0<\/i>(Coaching a girls\u2019 team used to be considered an embarrassment). But I also took it up as a challenge,\u201d Sen, a former Ranji Trophy player for Himachal, recalls.<\/p>\n
The sight of 85 girls turning up for the first set of trials in Kangra encouraged Sen. Sushma and Renuka were among those who attended the trials and also broke into the 25-member group selected as the academy\u2019s first batch.<\/p>\n
But making a case to parents to send their daughters away for cricket was still a challenge.\u00a0\u201cIn Himachal Pradesh, people want girls to get married by 23 or 24. Whenever I tried to convince them, they said, \u2018 Kya milega khel ke?<\/i>\u00a0(What will they gain from playing cricket?)\u2019 and I had no answer,\u201d Sen says.<\/p>\n
Eager to prove a point, Sen once enrolled his team in an open tournament in Kangra.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 30-35 teams that take part every year. I enrolled our academy\u2019s team; all the girls were around 15 years old at that time. I was criticised from within HPCA as well. I just asked the girls not to look at who they were facing. Just play. We ended up reaching the final, and this created a huge buzz in the city. This was in 2010,\u201d Sen says.<\/p>\n
The gamble worked. The result\u00a0convinced the association to move the academy from Kangra to the main stadium in Dharamsala. But the bigger test still lay ahead.<\/p>\n
Himachal\u2019s terrain and climate have ingrained a sense of resource management into everyday life.\u00a0Cricket is no different.<\/p>\n
Anything done has to be worth doing. Starting a women\u2019s residential academy was a novel initiative, but it had to be backed by results.<\/p>\n
![\"Pawan](\"https:\/\/ss-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/sf46qy\/article71005056.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/6744_19_5_2026_11_0_28_1_A2_RVM_7197.JPG\" "\\"Pawan")
<\/p>\n\n | Photo Credit:
\n R.V. MOORTHY\n <\/p>\n
![\"lightbox-info\"\/](\"https:\/\/assetsss.thehindu.com\/theme\/images\/SSRX\/lightbox-info.svg\")
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Pawan Sen, the man behind one of Indian women\u2019s cricket\u2019s quietest success stories.
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\n R.V. MOORTHY\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThere was a girls\u2019 academy here and a boys\u2019 academy in Una. Anurag [Thakur] ji gave us three years. He said, \u2018Show me you can perform, and I will scale up this operation.\u2019 He told the same to the boys\u2019 academy. In the third year, I told the team that this is your final chance. \u00a0Agar yahan se ghar vaapis chale gaye, toh cricket khatam hai aapki\u00a0<\/i>(If you go back home now, your cricket ambitions will be over). But the girls did so well that everything changed after that,\u201d Sen says.<\/p>\n
What followed was the gradual expansion of a system that began to justify the faith placed in it. The academy started producing results, and the investment into women\u2019s cricket in Himachal Pradesh gathered momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we envisioned the future of cricket in Himachal Pradesh, I strongly believed that our women cricketers deserved the same opportunities, infrastructure, and professional coaching as the men. That vision inspired us to establish the Women\u2019s Residential Cricket Academy at the Dharamsala Cricket Stadium, which provided free-of-cost boarding, lodging, and cricketing facilities of optimum standards during my tenure as president of the HPCA. The initiative bore fruit when four players from the academy went on to represent India. It reaffirms our belief that, with the right support and platform, talent from Himachal Pradesh can shine at the highest level of world cricket,\u201d said Thakur, during whose tenure as BCCI president more domestic fixtures were introduced, especially at the U-19 and U-23 levels. The new domestic tournaments were also scheduled for the first time to create a proper pathway.<\/p>\n
![\"Pawan](\"https:\/\/ss-i.thgim.com\/public\/cricket\/womens-cricket\/u9u49m\/article71005066.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/WhatsApp%20Image%202026-05-16%20at%2007.53.13%202.jpeg\" "\\"Pawan")
<\/p>\n Pawan Sen with some of his most accomplished proteges, including Harleen Deol, Renuka Singh Thakur (right), Sushma Verma and Tanuja Kanwer (extreme left).
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Special arrangement\n <\/p>\n
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Pawan Sen with some of his most accomplished proteges, including Harleen Deol, Renuka Singh Thakur (right), Sushma Verma and Tanuja Kanwer (extreme left).
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Special arrangement\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The impact of that structure soon began reflecting in results on the field as well. Sen coached the Himachal Pradesh U-19 women\u2019s team to the North Zone final against Punjab, with almost the entire squad having trained under him in Dharamsala.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe level of our cricket improved a lot in a short span because all of us used to practise together. If 20-25 girls practise together and then they play games together, a good bond is formed. The communication is good. So, we benefited a lot from that. Our team was very good,\u201d Tanuja says.<\/p>\n
Himachal lost the final, but Sen found another student who would blaze a trail to the Indian team.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarleen was not getting enough playing time in the Punjab team. Her\u00a0parents saw how the team played in that final. They knew Sushma\u2019s parents, who sent them to me. I initially sent them back. I said we take in just girls from Himachal Pradesh. But they were able to convince me. Harleen impressed me with her bowling too, and she joined in 2011,\u201d Sen says.<\/p>\n
In 2013, Sushma got a call-up to the T20 side to face Bangladesh. The following year, she was picked for the ODI team and went on to represent India at the 2017 ODI World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cSushma played first, and that inspired all the others to dream bigger,\u201d Sen beams.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/ss-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/pnq1ki\/article71005060.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/6744_19_5_2026_11_13_8_1_A8_RVM_7273.JPG\" "\\"A")
<\/p>\n A glimpse of the facilities at the HPCA residential academy, where Pawan Sen is shaping the next generation of women cricketers dreaming of wearing India colours one day.
\n | Photo Credit:
\n R.V. MOORTHY\n <\/p>\n
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A glimpse of the facilities at the HPCA residential academy, where Pawan Sen is shaping the next generation of women cricketers dreaming of wearing India colours one day.
\n | Photo Credit:
\n R.V. MOORTHY\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cBefore that academy started, I don\u2019t think most girls knew that they could play cricket on such a platform. Sushma di played for India first. After that, all of us, me, Renuka, and all of us. If there were no academy, none of us would have been able to reach that stage,\u201d Tanuja says. Sen had to wait six years before another one of his students broke into the national set-up. Harleen earned her India cap in 2019, while Renuka followed in 2021. In 2024, Tanuja became the fourth student to represent India.<\/p>\n
\u201cRenuka in 2019 was the second-highest wicket-taker in one-days and still did not get a call-up to India. She was so frustrated at that time. I simply gave her the example of Cheteshwar Pujara. He scored 1000 runs for two consecutive seasons to get in. I told her to repeat that performance. The same was the case with Tanuja.<\/p>\n
\u201cNooshin Al Khadeer conducted a camp here. I asked her that Tanuja has been bowling so well for the last three years; what more does she need to do to get into the Indian team? She said that you\u2019ve been patient for so long; just keep it that way for six more months; she\u2019s about to break in. Three months later, she got the call,\u201d Sen says.<\/p>\n
Tanuja will tour England next month with the India-A side. Harleen will also be part of that squad. For Renuka, there is a bigger goal. She will be part of India\u2019s T20 World Cup squad in England next month.<\/p>\n
Back in Nagrota, Sen awaits the next month with eager anticipation. But for him, success is more than just seeing his students compete internationally. It lies in knowing that cricket has now reached Himachal\u2019s grassroots, where girls no longer have to ask what they will gain by picking up a cricket bat.<\/p>\n
Published on May 21, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n