Indian women's cricket needs better coaches, better results

When Tushar Arothe, head coach of the Indian senior women’s cricket team, was axed, there was a sense of déjà vu. Last year, in June, the senior men’s coach Anil Kumble stepped down citing irreconcilable differences with skipper Virat Kohli. Despite the team doing well, the bitter parting finally came after a disappointing final against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy in England.

The coach was changed with four months left for the ICC World Twenty20 championship in West Indies. Not an opportune timing, but one with the full blessings of the top bosses of Indian cricket. Arothe was replaced by former India and Mumbai off-spinner Ramesh Powar as interim coach even as the Board of Control for Cricket in India started the procedure to search for a new coach, starting with an advertisement for the post, outlining qualification criteria.

The Indian women’s team’s story is somewhat similar to their male counterparts’. Arothe, brought in to replace Purnima Rau in 2017, was booted out allegedly on demands of senior players a year later. There was no dilly-dallying from the Committee of Administrators nor was there a highly decorated Cricket Advisory Committee to broker peace.

Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur, India's ODI and T20 skippers, respectively, reportedly met with CoA member Diana Edulji on their return from the Asia Cup competition (a day before the BCCI annual awards) in June where they expressed the need for change in the coaching set-up as their performances were “stagnating”.

THE WEEK learns from sources privy to the developments that the players pressed for a more experienced coach, especially at the international level. Arothe, it is learnt, was “stagnating” with his coaching ideas and strategies. The recent setback in Asia Cup, where India lost twice to Bangladesh, was last straw. Asked whose idea was it to drop performing young players like Jemima Rodrigues and Pooja Vastrakar from the playing XI, it was clearly conveyed that it was the coach’s idea. He was a dominating figure and stamped his authority on team members, revealed a highly placed source.

Arothe had called for a national camp in Bengaluru soon after the team's return from the Asia Cup to which the women protested. The BCCI found their protests valid and cancelled it. “That was a right decision taken, the girls had just returned from Asia Cup, lost to Bangladesh and they needed a break,” said a top official.

The players, usually quite vocal, did not air their views publicly as per the advice of seniors and bosses.

However, the coach has denied these allegations, instead hinting at an emerging “star power” in women’s cricket and alleged that the players wanted to decide their own training timings and plans. He also said that he had resigned for personal reasons and wasn’t exactly aware of the true reasons. Ironically, Arothe was brought in as coach on the specific requests of Indian skipper Raj and Jhulan Goswami.

The players and coach were never made to sit across the table to deal with the issues. At least in the men’s case, there were attempts, albeit vain, to bring Kohli around to accept Kumble.

In the women team’s case, the BCCI officials in charge, it is learnt, preferred to await instructions on the brewing issue from the CoA. The national selectors, reportedly, weren’t privy to the exact issues between the senior players and coaches either.

Before Arothe took charge, the Indian women’s team had won nine of its 10 ODIs which included qualifying for the ICC World Cup in June 2017 in England. Arothe started with a bang, taking unheralded India into the finals of the World Cup where it lost to eventual champions England.

Indian women’s cricket reached an unprecedented high, catching the imagination of cricket fans at home. Women’s cricket came into demand, its value improving. The likes of Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Jemima Rodrigues became household names even as Raj became the talismanic leader in her own right.

In 2018, the Indian eves have played nine ODIs thus far. They have won four and lost five. Of these, they won a series against South Africa and England 2-1 each, and lost 3-0 to Australia. They played 15 T20Is this year, out of which they won eight, lost six and one match ended with no result.

Senior players, however, feel that they could have bettered their individual and team performances with better inputs―a fact accepted by former India players too. The last straw was undoubtedly the Asia Cup where the team’s performance was unacceptably poor, losing to the hosts not once but twice, and missing out on the title win. Kaur and her deputy Mandhana, meanwhile, have gone on to play in the England Super League. A Sri Lanka tour is around the corner too.

“With us losing to Bangladesh―this has never happened before. Our team is skilled, talented... This is obviously a matter of concern,” said Shubhangi Kulkarni, former India captain.

Kulkarni, too, felt that the players are aware of their responsibility towards fans increasing manifold post the World Cup campaign. “This (the attention) is what we all wanted, right! But along with that there is responsibility, there is an expectation that players will play good cricket. There is a lot we can improve on―our fielding, running between wickets need to improve,” she said.

India is currently ranked sixth in the ICC T20 rankings. Becoming a serious contender for the title will indeed need a lot of work, commitment and focus from the players. “You will see the difference with Powar itself. He has international experience as a player, but most importantly, he will be able to give important inputs to our spinners who are key to our performances,” assured a cricket administrator.