Sacking Of WV Raman And Reappointment Of Ramesh Powar As Indian Women's Team Coach Sparks Controversy

The unceremonious sacking of former Indian cricketer and Indian women’s team coach, WV Raman, and the reappointment of Ramesh Powar three years after he was sacked following a fallout with Mithali Raj has sparked a raging controversy.

On May 14, the Cricket Advisory Committee led by former cricketer Madan Lal, RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik appointed Ramesh Powar as the head coach of the women’s team.

Pawar, who took over the same role in mid 2018 following the resignation by Tushar Athrote, was sacked in the immediate aftermath of India’s T20 World Cup campaign where the team made its way to the semi-final.

Raman’s ouster has come after India suffered a series defeat on home soil in both ODIs and T20Is against South Africa in March.

The appointment of Powar, given the past controversy, has caused a lot of furore.

According to PTI, a senior BCCI official has questioned the eligibility of Madan Ali in the Cricket Advisory Committee given the fact that the World Cup-winner is 70-year-old. According to Lodha Committee recommendations, the age-cap on office bearers is 70.

”Maddi paaji (Madan Lal) celebrated his 70th birthday on March 20, 2021. The BCCI, in its appeal to the Supreme Court against some of the reforms, doesn’t ask for a roll-back of age-cap of 70 years. So how come Madan Lal was allowed to sit in a CAC meeting?” a senior member asked as quoted by saying by PTI.

Sulakshana Naik played a key role in WV Raman’s ouster?

Meanwhile, it has come to light that Sulakshana Naik has played a major role in the sacking of WV Raman.

According to the source in the know of development, Naik asked Raman as to how he can claim the credit for India’s performance in the 2020 T20 World Cup when it was Ramesh Powar who prepared the team.

“One surprising question that Raman was asked was how can he claim credit for women’s team reaching T20 final as this is a team that was prepared by Ramesh Powar,” the source revealed.

“Even if we presume that Ramesh and Mithali Raj had problems back then and it wasn’t good enough ground to remove Ramesh, do two wrongs make a right. If you go by the argument Sulakshana gave during Raman’s 45-minute presentation, by that logic, Ramesh is inheriting a team that Raman prepared,” he countered.

Speculations abound that WV Raman’s fallout with selector Neetu David during the recent South African series is the reason behind his unlikely sacking.

For the uninitiated, the selectors had made a couple of shocking calls by dropping Shafali Verma and pacer Shikha Pandey from the ODI squad, something WV Raman wasn’t happy about.

That said, WV Raman has kept his dignity despite the current mess.

The former Indian cricketer took to Twitter on Thursday where he congratulated Ramesh Powar for his re-appointment as head coach.

All the best @imrameshpowar with the @BCCIWomen in this spell.. Look forward to seeing the girls soar under your guidance..

— W V Raman (@wvraman) May 13, 2021

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