OPINION
Follow UsA new coach 10-months before a World Cup does not send a message of reassurance. Under most circumstances, it can be a recipe for disaster. But, for Ramesh Powar, taking the helm of coaching India women is akin to returning from a sabbatical. This makes his appointment all the more intriguing given the unpleasant circumstances that led to his ouster in 2018.
The stage was the 2018 ICC Women’s World T20. Harmanpreet Kaur was leading the side with Powar as the head coach. In the first match, Mithali Raj – slated to come down the order – did not get a chance to bat. Opening in the next two, she struck consecutive half-centuries. But the issue was not the runs but the pace of accumulating them.
In the third game against Ireland, Raj scored a 56-ball 51 while opening. This, adjusted for inflation, is in the ballpark of the innings Sunil Gavaskar played in India’s first game ever in a World Cup. Raj did not play in the competition again.
With the perfect 20 by 20 vision of hindsight, Raj’s exclusion in the semi-final did not prove to be prudent. India remained unbeaten until that point having won all four league games. In a low scoring semi-final, India were bundled out for 112 in the last over. England chased it down but had to play 17.2 overs to reach there. On that tricky surface at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, India would have taken that 56-ball 51.
Hours after India’s elimination the mud-slinging began. The official word in the fourth game – against Australia – was that Raj was unwell and is resting. In the semi-final, the reason given for Raj’s exclusion was to go with the combination that had beaten Australia. Raj went public, alleged discrimination and alluded to a brewed conspiracy by the coach to undermine her service to the nation. Powar's views were on Raj’s lack of intent, underwhelming participation in team meetings, indifference to fielding drills and threats of retirement after being pushed down the order in the first game.
Separate messages in support of Powar by Kaur, also the ODI vice-captain and Smriti Mandhana, the T20I vice-captain, did not affect BCCI’s decision. Powar did not receive an extension of the contract.
Now, more than two years later, Powar is back as the coach while Raj is the ODI captain. The near-term goal of the team is the 50-over World Cup in early 2022. This raises two questions. If a player’s input matters in the contract renewal of a coach, does it not matter when offering a new one? Or if it does, has Raj agreed to put her differences with Powar aside fueled by the reason that she does not play T20Is anymore?
A more cynical hypothesis would be about a shift in the sphere of influence inside the dressing room, months before the World Cup. With Harmanpreet and Mandhana having put their weight behind Powar earlier, is there another big shift waiting to happen before the event? We cannot rule out anything when it comes to the dealings around India women’s team.
But, the latest act in the drama of the coach of the women’s team is just another round of musical chair put into motion. This brings us to the larger issue. The circumstances of Powar’s ouster in 2018 was not a one-off.
Tushar Arothe, a former first-class cricketer from Baroda, was the coach of the side from April 2017 to June 2018. Under him, India reached the final of the last 50-over World Cup in 2017 which England won by nine runs. When India lost the final of the Asia Cup in June next year, Arothe resigned. He cited personal reasons at first but soon reports of his differences with senior players surfaced. The team did not approve of his training methods and saw him as a micromanager. Arothe’s parting words were for the team to get out of their comfort zone to achieve bigger things.
Even Arothe’s appointment came after the sacking of Purnima Rau two months before the World Cup in 2017. Rau got the news through the media and is still searching for the reasons for the sack. Coming back to the latest elimination, there are reports that WV Raman had a fallout with the chief selector Neetu David about the side selected for the home series against South Africa earlier this year. Raman did not approve the exclusion of the pace spearhead Shikha Pandey and felt that the time was right for Shafali Varma’s ODI debut. The selection committee had other ideas.
Sources from inside the “anti-Raman camp” have revealed player’s discomfort with Raman as well. Some girls felt that he switched off at times during the training session and once handed a debut cap to a player who had played for India before.
In the interview after reapplying for the job, the line of questioning involved Raman explaining himself for taking the credit for the performance of the team built by Powar. Going by the logic put forward by the interviewer - who happens to be the sister of the head of Mumbai Cricket Association where Powar has the coach until recently - the upward trend of the performance in the team began during the World Cup in 2017 by the team that Purnima Rau built.
The World Cup final appearance in 2017, followed by a semi-final spot in the T20 World Cup and bettered in the next edition by playing in the first-ever final should have each been laudable feats in themselves. But, each of these achievements led to the sacking of the coach immediately or soon after. Perhaps, India Women have high expectations from their coach. Their treatment is similar to football managers where all that matters is a trophy, nothing else should suffice.
A disgruntled Raman has shot a letter himself to the BCCI boss about the celebrity culture in Women’s cricket. With the way a disjointed Mumbai men’s team thrived under Powar, questioning his credentials would not be wise. But, the role of a coach changing hands eleven times in the last decade does not reflect well on the team and alludes to possible power centres pulling the team in different directions.
