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Ramesh Powar appointed coach of Indian Women's Cricket Team; pips WV Raman, Ajay Ratra

Former India cricketer Ramesh Powar has been named the new head coach of the Indian national women's team. The Cricket Advisory Committee on Thursday (May 13) appointed Powar as the new coach after interviewing eight pot

Mumbai, May 13: Former India cricketer Ramesh Powar has been appointed as the new head coach of the Indian national women's team by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The Cricket Advisory Committee on Thursday (May 13) recommended Powar's name for the job after interviewing eight potential candidates.

Powar has pipped incumbent WV Raman (since 2018) and former India wicketkeeper-batsman Ajay Ratra to the post. The CAC conducted the interview on Wednesday and Thursday in which all the candidates made presentations about their visions for the Indian women's team' and Powar ended up impressing the committee the most.

Under former India cricketer, WV Raman, the Indian women's cricket team made it to the finals of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia last year where they lost to Meg Lanning-led Australian side. The match witnessed a record turnout as more than 80,000 people gathered at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to watch the final.

Raman, Powar, Ratra and Hrishikesh Kanitkar appeared for virtual interviews conducted by former India cricketer Madan Lal-led CAC. Two CAC members -- Lal and Sulakshana Naik -- were present as RP Singh couldn't join as his father died on Wednesday.

Out of 35 applications, eight India internationals were shortlisted for interviews, which included four men and four women. While the four male candidates were interviewed on the day, the four female candidates Mamtha Maben, Devika Vaidya, former chairman of selectors Hemlatha Kala and Suman Sharma were interviewed on Thursday.

It is interesting to note that Powar was earlier ousted as the women's team coach after a tiff with skipper Mithali Raj. Mithali had publicly criticised Powar for not including her in playing eleven in the semi-final of the T20I World Cup in 2018. It was reported that Powar cited the Hyderabad cricketer's batting wasn't suited to the format. However, in the semi-finals against England, the entire Indian batting line-up came crashing and the Indian eves lost the match.

The entire episode courted a massive controversy forcing the BCCI to remove Powar as the coach of the side. Now, it will be interesting to see how the duo will work together after a gap of one year or so.

Story first published: Thursday, May 13, 2021, 18:03 [IST]
Other articles published on May 13, 2021