In the latest developments, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the appointment of former India cricketer Ramesh Powar as the Head Coach of the Indian Women cricket team.
Interestingly, Powar previously coached the same team from July to November 2018 before a fallout with Mithali Raj put an end to his tenure. Powar replaced WV Raman, whose coaching stint began in December 2018.
Under Raman, India qualified for the final of the T20 World Cup in 2020, where they lost to Australia on March 8. Amid the pandemic, the team didn’t play another international match until their home series against South Africa Women. The Proteas won the ODI as well as the T20I series by 4-1, and 2-1, respectively.
The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising three members, i.e. Madan Lal, Sulakshana Naik, and Rudra Pratap Singh, interviewed the applicants and unanimously agreed on Powar’s name. Notably, the apex Indian board had advertised received over 35 applications for the given post.
Apart from Powar and Raman, others in the competition were Devika Vaidya, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Mamtha Maben, Ajay Ratra, former assistant coach Suman Sharma, and former chair of selectors Hemlatha Kala.
Under Powar, the Indian team had qualified for the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and registered 14 T20 victories in a row. He recently trained the Mumbai men’s domestic team that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021.
