There Should Not Be Any Problem - Madan Lal On Returning Women's Coach Ramesh Powar Working With Mithali Raj

On Thursday, Ramesh Powar was re-instated as the India Women coach, replacing WV Raman, after he was sacked in 2018 following a well-documented fall-out with senior batsman Mithali Raj.

Ramesh Powar was first appointed as an interim coach in July 2018; his contract was then extended till the 2018 T20 World Cup in the West Indies, where India lost the semis. It is there where the clash between the former India off-spinner and the senior Women batsman took place.

Raj was controversially left out of the starting XI in the eight-wicket semi-final loss to England. She had then said she felt “deflated, depressed and let down” by Ramesh Powar during the tournament. The coach countered it back revealing that Raj had “threatened to retire” mid-tournament if she wasn’t given the opener’s slot.

Ramesh Powar was dropped from the coach’s position, despite other senior players in Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana both reportedly writing to the BCCI urging them to continue with him.

WV Raman was given the job in December 2018. However, after the ODI and T20I series loss at home to South Africa, the BCCI sent out an advertisement inviting applications to replace Raman, who coached the side to the T20 World Cup final last year where India lost to Australia.

Madan Lal, who was part of the Cricket Advisory Committee alongside RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik, selected Ramesh Powar as the new coach. Lal says the appointment of the former spinner was “a unanimous choice” and was the best candidate among the 35 applications. He reckons that there won’t be any issues now with Ramesh Powar and Mithali Raj.

“All of us in the committee felt Ramesh Powar was the best candidate and it was a unanimous choice. As far as him working together with Mithali Raj is concerned, there should not be any problem. Mithali’s job as a captain is to focus on her role and she should work to take the team forward,” Madan Lal said.

Diana Eduljee, former member of BCCI’s committee of administrators (COA) said: “If they want India to do well, both will have to work together and play to win and see that Indian women’s cricket remains on the forefront. I wish Ramesh the best for the future.”

The first assignment for Ramesh Powar as the coach on his second tenure would be the tour of England which commences with a one-off Test on June 16 in Bristol, followed by 3 ODIs and as many T20Is. The 42-year-old has less than a year to prepare the side for the 50-over Women’s World Cup in New Zealand next March.

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