On May 14, Thursday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Ramesh Powar as the head coach of the Indian women’s cricket team. The decision was taken after the Madan Lal-headed Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) recommended Powar for the post. However, the selection of Powar has caused controversy in the cricket fraternity.
Many feel that it was unfair of CAC to remove WV Raman from the post as, under him, India’s women’s team achieved a lot of success. Under the leadership of Raman, India reached the final of the T20 World Cup in 2020 and performed well both at home and overseas. Raman had re-applied for the post of head coach and was also selected for an interview.
However, the Madan Lal committee felt that Ramesh Powar was a more suitable candidate. It is now learned that the former Indian captain and current president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Sourav Ganguly has also expressed his disappointment over the sacking of Raman. Though Ganguly remained tight-lipped regarding the selection of Ramesh, he has raised the issue internally, expressing disappointment and displeasure over the non-retention of Raman as the coach of the Indian women's team.
As per a report published by Cricbuzz, Sourav Ganguly has expressed his disagreement formally via letters. However, the officials who are involved in women’s cricket aren’t happy with the interference of Ganguly as they believe that the BCCI president should respect the decision of the CAC (comprising Madan Lal, RP Singh, and Sulakshana Naik).
"He should know this himself that the CAC is an independent body," said a BCCI insider, conversant with women's cricket.