WV Raman pips Gary Kirsten to post of Indian women’s team coach

Former India opener WV Raman has pipped former Team India 2011 World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten for the position of India’s women’s cricket coach.

Raman, who is currently batting consultant at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, was selected by an ad-hoc committee comprising former captain Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy. Earlier, the panel recommended three — Raman, Kirsten and Venkatesh Prasad — out of the total 10 names those were interviewed on Thursday.

The appointment of Raman is seen as a big victory for Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) member Diana Edulji as she had differences with chairman Vinod Rai over the selection process.

BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry were of the opinion and declared that “the entire process does not come on behalf of the board”.

“An appointment that may be a result of this process can in no manner be called an appointment for and on behalf of BCCI,” treasurer Chaudhry registered his written protest.

It is important to mention here that Edulji wanted incumbent Powar, whose interim tenure ended controversially on November 30, to continue. Powar fell out with senior player Mithali Raj during the Women’s World T20 and the two shot off mails about each other’s conduct to the BCCI.

Though his candidature was endorsed by T20 captain and vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana respectively, Powar was not considered by the three-member panel.

Obvious Choice

Raman, who is best remembered for hitting first century from India in South Africa during 1992-93 tour, has been in BCCI’s radar for quite some time.

His selection can best be attributed to “good report card” that he got during his two-year stint at NCA. Having played 11 Tests and 27 One-dayers for India, Raman’s prior coaching experience also includes stints with Tamil Nadu and Bengal Ranji Trophy teams, before being asked to assist Rahul Dravid in U-19 team.

There were many instances when Raman got an independent charge to handle U-19 boys as and when Dravid was busy with India A. The left-handed batsman also independently handled India’s U-23 squad that took part in the recent Asian Cricket Council’s Emerging Trophy in Bangladesh.

Kirsten’s Conflict

As reported by DNA, Kirsten’s candidature was red-flagged even before the start of the interviews on Thursday.

In the absence of an ombudsman in BCCI, Kirsten’s conflict of interest, by virtue of his current position of coach cum mentor in Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, the matter was referred to the Board’s legal team.

Going by a senior BCCI functionary, the legal team sent their opinion to the three member ad-hoc committee comprising of former India captain Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy, saying that “even short-listing Kirsten amounts to serious conflict of interest”.

“Kirsten was straightaway asked by the panel whether he intends to resign from his IPL position. His answer was... ‘I intend to continue with my IPL commitment’,” an insider recollected the interview to DNA.

Kirsten, who appeared via Skype, was of the opinion that “coaching a women’s national team doesn’t amount to any conflict of interest while being in charge of a men’s IPL team”.

However, the panel was of the opinion that “there might be a situation in future where men’s national coach can ask to be associated with any women’s team or even be asked to give commentary”.