Indian Women's Cricket Marred With Politics, Selectors Don’t Have A Vision, Says Former Coach Tushar Arothe
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Former head coach of the Indian women’s cricket team Tushar Arothe has claimed that the whole system is marred with politics which has seen multiple coaches coming in and going out at an alarming rate, despite the team doing extremely well in the last 5 years.
Former India women’s team coach Tushar Arothe (Photo- Twitter)
After Tushar Arothe was replaced by Ramesh Powar as the head coach, a difference of opinions between Powar and ODI captain Mithali Raj led to his ouster and WV Raman becoming the head coach. Once again, WV Raman has been replaced by Ramesh Powar, who had previously coached the team for a short span of time.
Simply Put, There Is A Lot Of Politics In Women’s Cricket: Tushar Arothe On Various Aspects That Are Hampering Women’s Cricket In India
Tushar Arothe had a successful one-year reign as the head coach during which the Indian team reached the final of the 2017 ICC World Cup in England. Then under the tutelage of Ramesh Powar, India women’s team reached the semi-final of the 2018 ICC T20 World Cup and then under WV Raman’s coaching, the team made it into the finals of the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup.
Mumbai coach Ramesh Powar (Photo-Twitter)
Speaking on why so many coaches have been changed in a very little period of time, Tushar Arothe reasoned that there is a lot of politics in Indian women’s cricket.
“Simply put, there is a lot of politics in women’s cricket. In comparison, men’s cricket is very transparent. What I have seen from very close quarters in the team is that, there is a lot of appeasement going on. I think the blame falls on former women players. Also, it is about the culture in the team. If the team doesn’t do well in a tournament, the coach is sacked. If a player doesn’t get along well with the coach, the latter is changed at their behest. You look at the coach before me, the way Purnima Rau was treated after doing so well with the team is beyond belief,” Arothe on why are so many coaches being changed, that too so frequently.
“I think, in my case, what went wrong was I asked the players to focus on competing with the top sides and prepare accordingly for them. Some players didn’t really like my approach since I also told them that the effort put in during their 2017 World Cup campaign — where they reached the final — wasn’t going to be enough in the future,” he added.
The Selectors Don’t Have A Vision: Tushar Arothe
Furthermore, Tushar Arothe questioned the intent of the India women’s team selectors. He cited the example of why Shikhar Pandey and Taniya Bhatia were not included in the Indian team for the recent South Africa series at home and now why both returned to the squad for the upcoming England tour.
Former India women’s team coach Tushar Arothe (Photo- Twitter)
“The selectors don’t have a vision. We were playing against South Africa after a long break. Shikha Pandey was not included in the team and I heard that she was rested. I mean, how do you rest a player who hasn’t played for 12 months? It is a complete mess. Look at Taniya Bhatia, safest pair of hands in team. She wasn’t included in the team. Now again for the tour of England, these players are back. I ask, on what basis were they left out, and have been brought back now,” questioned the former India women’s team coach.
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