Indian Women’s Team and the Head Coach Conundrum

The Indian women’s cricket team has grown leaps and bounds over the past few years. Making it to the finals of the ODI World Cup in 2005 was a huge stepping stone for the team and a memorable moment for all those who were a part of the historic moment. After that iconic summit clash, the team has had several ups and downs, but as the saying goes - all that happens, happens for good.

The one thing that remained constant between the World Cups of 2005 and the most recent one of 2022 was the presence of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami. The two legends of the game, who represented their country for two decades, witnessed the team grow and develop before putting curtains on their international career.

Mithali Raj’s first appearance at the global tournament was in 2000, just a year after she made her international debut. And after that, she led the team in the 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, and the 2022 editions of the tournament. Jhulan Goswami, on the other hand, appeared in five editions of the world tournament, her first one being the iconic 2005 World Cup.

But while we speak of the two personalities, we must also keep in mind the role that the head coach and the support staff play in a team’s success. Though the Indian side has been a part of international cricket for decades, the team got their first head coach in the year 2011, when former international Anju Jain joined hands.

Since 2011, a total of five people namely Anju Jain, Tushar Arothe, Purnima Rau, WV Raman, and Ramesh Powar have taken up the head coach’s role. Everyone had their own style of handling and managing the team, and the Women in Blue touched greater heights under the guidance of Tushar Arothe in 2017 when the then Mithali Raj-led India made it to the World Cup finals again.

Raman too worked brilliantly with the team, and closely with Harmanpreet Kaur’s T20I side, as the team scripted history and made it to the T20 World Cup final in 2020. Ramesh Powar returned to the role in 2021, after already having served with the side in 2018. During his tenure, the Indian side won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games and also clinched the Women’s Asia Cup for a record seventh time.

All the above-mentioned achievements of the Indian team prove how important the role of a head coach is. But ever since Powar’s term ended in the later stages of 2022, Harmanpreet has been leading the side without a head coach. While BCCI appointed Hrishikesh Kanitkar as the batting coach, the spot remained vacant during India’s campaign at the most recent T20 World Cup.

The team made it to the semi-final and came close to winning the game against Australia too, but unfortunately could not. Defeating Australia in a T20I at home but losing the series, making it to the finals of the tri-series between India-West Indies-South Africa but losing the summit clash, and failing to make it to the T20 World Cup final, all outcomes raised one question - ‘What if there were a head coach?’

India hosted world giants Australia in December 2022 and faced the side in a five-match T20I series without the services of a head coach. Though they lost the first game, Harmanpreet led the side to a magnificent victory in the second game as the result was derived through a Super Over. That game proved the Indian team’s efficiency. But that does not mean they can go long without a head coach.

After months, the BCCI secretary, on April 11, finally put out a message that the women’s team will soon get a dedicated and full-fledged support staff. All that the Indian cricket fans want now is for the management to get someone proficient and experienced. But who can be roped in? Does the team need an experienced former Indian player? Or can they look into some strong overseas options?

At the Women’s Premier League, the entire world witnessed how well Harmanpreet and Mumbai Indians’ head coach Charlotte Edwards gelled with each other. The team lost just two games throughout the tournament and clinched the prestigious silverware as the Edwards-Kaur-Goswami trio worked brilliantly together.

The ICC introduced the first-ever Under-19 World Cup for the female players, and the tournament witnessed the young Indian girls emerging as the strongest team. Under the leadership of the experienced Shafali Verma, India lifted their first-ever ICC title. Many say that India had two experienced international players on the side- Verma and Richa Ghosh, and credit them for the victory.

The two young girls surely deserve the credit, because the tournament was not a piece of cake for them. They had an added pressure, because the entire nation had high expectations from the duo, and the management too hoped the two to bring their international experience in play. But was it just them? If you think so, give it a second thought!

India had an experienced coaching panel for the entire tournament. The U19 girls played a T20I series against South Africa's U19 team and defeated them, which acted as a confidence booster. But one factor that played a key role behind India's success was Nooshin Al Khadeer, the team's head coach, and a member of the Indian side that finished as runners up in the 2005 World Cup. 

Nooshin was very well experienced, and dealt with the team brilliantly. Indian U19 team winning under her guidance surely must have felt very special to her, given the fact that India had lost the 2005 edition of the senior Women's World Cup at the same venue- South Africa. She managed to pull off something spectacular, and that is what the senior Indian women's team currently wants. 

Ever since Jay Shah’s announcement, Indian women’s cricket fans are manifesting something similar. Not only Edwards but there also are plenty of Indian options. Can someone like Nooshin Al Khadeer and Anjum Chopra, who have seen the entire team grow over the years, potentially join the team? Or can the management rope in someone of Ravi Shastri’s caliber? 

There are numerous options, and it surely is a debatable topic. But neither the Indian team nor the fans are now strong enough to witness India bowing out of another global ICC tournament. Over the years, there have been several heartbreaks, be it the 2017 World Cup, the 2020 T20 World Cup, CWG 2022, or the most recent T20 World Cup in 2023, where the team participated without a head coach.

Seeing Harmanpreet hide her tears by wearing sunglasses after being knocked out of the race to the World Cup final broke every Indian fan’s heart. There have been multiple setbacks that the Women in Blue have faced. The nation wants to see Harmanpreet achieve similar heights with the national team as she did with Mumbai Indians.

It is high time that they make a dominant comeback because they know how destructive they can be, they know what they are capable of, and the world knows that the Indian team can not be underestimated. It is now time to shut down the critics and make the entire world talk about the Indian Women’s Cricket team.