Former India opener W.V. Raman is set to be appointed the head coach of the senior Indian women's cricket team. The interviews and appointments were done even as CoA member Diana Edulji and BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry questioned the process.
Raman, who is currently a batting consultant at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, was also in charge of the India U-19 team in the absence of regular coach Rahul Dravid.
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Raman pipped 2011 World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten and former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad to the post. Raman's name, along with those of Kirsten and Prasad, was shortlisted by the three-member ad-hoc committee formed to select the new Indian coach. The committee comprised former India captains Shantha Rangaswamy, Kapil Dev and former India opener and coach Anshuman Gaekwad.
Remuneration was, apparently, the hurdle in Kirsten's case. He is currently the coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore and draws a hefty salary.
Nine candidates were interviewed over Skype and in person throughout the day by the committee at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai.
The candidates, especially the three shortlisted ones, were, reportedly, were asked about their coaching methodologies considering most of them had not coached a women's team before. They were also asked about their availability since it is a full-time job. Candidates were also asked about their requirements in terms of support staff. The remuneration bit was left to the BCCI officials to deal with as it was an administrative issue as per the committee.
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The candidates were, reportedly, well prepared and aware of the recent issues that had plagued the Indian team and were asked by the ad-hoc committee their views on how they would handle matters effectively.
The focus of the ad-hoc committee was to enhance the batting abilities of the team, as they had always been more effective with the bowling in the past. Hence, Kirsten and Raman were the premier choices followed by Prasad, who has also been India's bowling coach in the past.
As per sources, unlike what was reported in various media, Kapil Dev did not opt out of interviewing Manoj Prabhakar, who was one of the candidates.
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Raman played 11 Tests and 27 ODIs and has coached Ranji Trophy teams like Tamil Nadu and Bengal, besides his stint with the India U-19 team.
The BCCI invited fresh applications for the job after Ramesh Powar's brief but controversial stint as interim coach ended last month. Powar, too, had appeared for the interview.
