India’s WC-winning coach Gary Kirsten applies for women’s team coach position

Gary Kirsten loves to coach India, isn’t it? The former South Africa batsman, who guided India’s men to lift their second World Cup in the 50-overs format in 2011, has now applied for the head coach’s position of the women’s team. Kirsten joining the fray which includes some big names makes the process of selection of the next coach of the Indian eves all the more interesting.

The 51-year-old former left-hand batsman, one of the most prolific the Proteas have had in the 1990s and early 2000s with over 14,000 runs and 34 centuries, has reportedly sought an understanding of the profile of the role of the head coach of the women’s team. The team has of late seen a major controversy snowballing over a clash between veteran Indian batswoman Mithali Raj and former coach Ramesh Powar who though reapplied since he has the backing of captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed Kirsten’s application for the position. “Yes, Gary has applied for the job,” a board official was quoted as saying by Times of India.

A major controversy broke out after Mithali accused Powar of humiliating her during the Women’s World T20 in the Windies last month, an allegation which came to the fore after India dropped the veteran batswoman for their semi-final tie against England only to lose badly. Powar had a year-long contract with the Indian cricket board and it was not renewed after lapse on November 30.

High profile names in the fray

A number of high-profile names are in the fray for the women’s head coach position besides Kirsten and they include former India cricketers Atul Bedade, David Johnson, Manoj Prabhakar besides foreigners like Dave Whatmore, Herschelle Gibbs, Owais Shah, Dimitri Mascarenhas and others.

Kirsten was made the coach of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore in August in an overhauling process and he succeeded former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori. It will be interesting to see how things play out in case Kirsten succeeds in managing the women’s coach’s position as well.

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