The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday appointed former Indian spinner Ramesh Powar as the head coach of the women's cricket team. He will regain the position more than two years after he was sacked due to his bitter fallout with Mithali Raj. Prior to this, he has been the coach of the women's team for 5 months in 2018.
BCCI had received 35 applications for this post. The applicants include Sulakshana Naik, Madan Lal and Rudra Pratap Singh, but Powar's name was finalized by the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). He has played 2 Tests and 31 ODIs for India. According to a BCCI statement, "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announces the appointment of Mr Ramesh Powar as the Head Coach of Team India (Senior Women). The BCCI had advertised for the post and received over 35 applications."
Powar will replace former coach WV Raman. At the same time, Raman became the coach of the Indian Woman cricket team in December 2018. Under him, the team managed to reach the final of the T20 World Cup in 2020. Team India had to face defeat against Australia in the final.
On the other hand, Powar's first-class career was great and he took a total of 470 wickets in 148 matches while his best performance was 7 wickets for 44 runs. At the same time, he took a total of 142 wickets in 113 matches of List A cricket. Apart from this, he took a total of 14 wickets in 28 T20 matches. Ramesh Powar earned an ECB Level 2 coaching certificate and has also attended BCCI-NCA Level 2 coaching course. She had previously coached the Indian women's cricket team in the year 2018 from July to November.
