For Sarul Kanwar, leaving his hometown Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and shifting to Chandigarh in 2001 for better cricket opportunities was the turning point in his life. In these eight years, Sarul has not only improved his game, he now stands on the verge of breaking into the Punjab Ranji Trophy team.

With a record 746 runs in the recently-concluded Katoch Shield -including three centuries- Sarul made it to the ongoing Ranji camp. What will keep the Punjab selectors interested other than the runs he scored this year in the Katoch Shield is the 610 runs that he scored in the national C K Nayudu U-22 championship last year. His batting ensured Punjab won the title.

"Cricket has always been a way of life for me. After playing cricket at the school level in Saharanpur, I wanted to graduate to a serious level and came to Chandigarh with cricket in my dreams," said Sarul who joined Sector 16 Stadium in 2001 and started to train under coach Harish Sharma.

He was unlucky to miss out on Ranji selection last year but this year, things are very promising. A clear message has been conveyed to the Punjab Ranji contenders that form and fitness will form basis for selection and keeping in mind this dictum, Sarul is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to be one of the fittest players when the season begins. The combined Punjab camp for the U-22 and Ranji Trophy, under Daljit Singh's supervision is an opportunity for Sarul to show the think tank what he is capable of.

... contd.