The BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has expressed his displeasure with WV Raman not being retained as the coach of the India Women’s team.
WV Raman was let go of his position as the coach of India Women’s cricket team and was replaced by Ramesh Powar last week. The decision has caused quite a ruckus within the Indian cricketing sphere and now has escalated even more with the Board President voicing his opinion. It is learnt that Sourav Ganguly is not happy with Raman’s removal and has expressed his thoughts through official channels.
According to a report in CricBuzz, Ganguly has formally expressed his displeasure over the sacking of Raman, a former India batter. He was disappointed that Raman wasn’t considered for the reinstatement by the Cricket Advisory Committee, which picked Powar instead. Ganguly was surprised that a coach who led the side to the finals of the T20 World Cup last year had not been retained.
There have been reports of some senior members of the team having complaints about Raman, but the BCCI President has felt that Raman should have been persisted. Under his tenure as the coach, India Women’s team had reached the final of the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020.
People within the Indian women’s cricket fraternity say that Ganguly must respect the decision of the CAC, who himself was a member of the committee in the past.
“He should know this himself that the CAC is an independent body,”
a BCCI insider stated.
India played five ODI series and as many T20I series during Raman’s stint from December 2018 to March 2020. They had great success in ODIs, winning four out of five bilaterals, but struggled in T20Is even though they made it to the final of the mega event.
Ramesh Powar, who had coached the team previously and reached the semifinals of the 2018 T20 WC, was reappointed as the Head Coach. Powar will have his work cut out with a busy schedule lined up for India Women.
The team is set to travel to the UK for a full-fledged series against England comprising one Test, three ODIs and three T20Is. Following the UK tour, India have another blockbuster series scheduled in Australia, which will also feature one Test match.
WV Raman urges everyone to move on from the controversy
Soon after he was replaced as the coach, WV Raman had written a letter to the BCCI president and the head of National Cricket Academy Rahul Dravid. As per PTI, Raman had expressed that there’s a ‘Prima Donna’ culture in the team.
However, recently in a conversation with Sports Today, Raman said that a lot has been made out of the whole situation, and it needs to end.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my tenure with the girls. I think there is too much being made out of this exit bit. When I was a player there used to be a group of people selecting the side, sometimes they picked you and sometimes they didn’t. I don’t really see why this has been going on for too long,”
Raman told Sports Today.
Raman stressed that the England tour will be tough but also backed the India Women’s squad, saying they have got the quality in both batting and bowling.
“Everybody should say okay, the time has come for the girls to get on with it. They are embarking on a very long an important tour because England is one of the toughest sides you can get in international cricket.
They have the firepower in the batting and bowling departments, they are extremely good at what they do,”
he concluded.
