Controversy In Women's Cricket: Former Coach WV Raman Writes Letter To Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid; Alleges A "Smear Campaign" Against Him

Indian Women’s cricket and controversies go hand-in-hand as just a day after being sacked as the coach WV Raman wrote a letter to the BCCI President, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid, the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

WV Raman’s tenure from late 2018 came to an abrupt end after ODI and T20I series loss to South Africa at home, which was the first series after a year for the India women team despite the men resuming their cricket much earlier in the pandemic era. Under his coaching, the women’s team reached the final of the T20 World Cup last year.

Ramesh Powar returned to the position of the coach replacing WV Raman, who himself had replaced Powar in 2018 after the former off-spinner was sacked following a fall-out with senior batsman Mithali Raj.

In his letter, WV Raman alleged a campaign against him amongst the board officials. He asked both the former India captains to intervene and halt such activities amongst the board, and also offered to give further explanations if asked.

“I presume you might have been told different views about my style of functioning and work ethic. Whether those views conveyed to the officials of the BCCI had any impact on my candidature is of no consequence now,” WV Raman wrote in the letter which is in possession of PTI.

“What is important is that the smear campaign seems to have gained some unwarranted traction with some BCCI officials which needs to be halted permanently. I am prepared to give an explanation should you or any of the office bearers require it,” he added.

Extremely disconcerting is if my candidature was rejected due to any other reasons: WV Raman

The 55-year-old former batsman doesn’t mince any words and complains about some people being “more focussed on achieving their personal objective” rather than the team’s best interest.

While he didn’t name anyone, the consequences of this letter and outburst from the respected figure in Indian cricket would be long-lasting, and significant.

“If I were to be rejected due to my incompetency as a coach, there is no argument on a judgment call at all. But what will be extremely disconcerting is if my candidature was rejected due to any other reasons.

“Especially if it was due to allegations from people who were more focussed on achieving their personal objectives at the expense of the overall hygiene and welfare of the Indian women’s team and the pride of the country,” the letter added.

“If some people in the system have been highly accommodative to the extent of being seemingly obsequious to an accomplished performers for years on end and if that performer feels constrained to adhere to the culture, then I would leave it to you to decide if the coach was asking for too much.

“The time has come for you two accomplished former legends to salvage women’s cricket falling which things could gather momentum in the wrong direction. I have some suggestions that might help in the improvement of women’s cricket. I will be delighted to share those if you are interested,” he conlcuded.

Ramesh Powar takes charge of the team as they prepare for a tour to England, which includes India’s first Test for 7 years. They will also have an eye on the World Cup next year in New Zealand.

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