BCCI appoints Ramesh Powar as India Women team's new head coach

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was on the hunt of selecting a new head for India’s Women Cricket team after the tenure of women’s head coach WV Raman ended in March 2021 after the South Africa tour of India. After the Indian board released the notification for appointing a new head coach for the women’s team, as many as 35 applications were filed. 

Out of 35 applications, Madan Lal-led Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) selected eight candidates and called them for interview. The eight selected candidates included four men and four women coaches. The four male candidates including the likes of current women’s head coach WV Raman, former coach Ramesh Powar, ex-India players Ajay Ratra and Hrishikesh Kanitkarwere were interviewed on Wednesday.

The four female candidates Mamtha Maben, Devika Vaidya, former chairman of selectors Hemlatha Kala and Suman Sharma appeared for the virtual interview on Wednesday. Two CAC members conducted the interviews, including Lal and Sulakshana Naik as the other member RP Singh couldn’t join as his father lost his life while battling with coronavirus.

BCCI releases an official statement

It is now learned that CAC has recommended the name of the former coach Ramesh Powar for the role and he is set to don the coach hat again. This potentially means that the current coach WV Raman has been rejected for the role. One noteworthy point here is that Powar’s previous stint as the Indian team coach didn’t end on a good note as he was involved in a controversy with the team’s senior batter Mithali Raj. 

The two didn’t get along well with each other and thus Powar was dropped after India’s loss in the semi-finals against England during the 2018 T20 World Cup. BCCI released an official statement regarding the same on their official website as they announced the signing of Ramesh Powar as the head coach again. 

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announces the appointment of Mr. Ramesh Powar as the Head Coach of Team India (Senior Women). It was under him that India qualified for the semi-final of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup in 2018 and also won 14 T20 matches in a row. He recently coached the Mumbai senior team that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy and has worked at the National Cricket Academy as a Bowling Coach,” the statement read.