India Womens' team need fielding coach: Mithali Raj

Mithali Raj, the Indian Womens’ team skipper, who had led the Indian team to the finals in the Women’s Cricket World Cup of 2005 has been the key to success for India over the years.

The 33-year old feels that the India Womens’ team needs a fielding coach, one of the major areas to improve for the Indian cricketers. In the modern day cricket, you need to be top on top of your fielding to become successful.

“Going by what we had for the World Twenty20, I think we definitely need a fielding coach. A fielding coach or an assistant coach depending on what the BCCI decides. It is important that we have at least a little more than what we had at the World Cup. We can work hugely on our fielding department,” said Raj in a conversation with Cricbuzz, who is a recipient of the ‘Arjuna award’ for the year 2003.

Talking about the team’s schedule she said that the team needs more series in the year. “I definitely wouldn’t want to be packed for ten months but yes, I think we need to have more series in the year, rather than the existing two or three. And it should be spaced out well. It shouldn’t be like what we have now a long off and then we’re playing series back to back. It should be spaced out in such a way that the players get enough time to prepare between the series.”

Also Read: 15 Facts about Mithali Raj – The Pioneer of Indian Women’s Cricket

The 33-year-old also commented about the Under-23 camp, “The best part is the announcement for the U23 camp, because, if you see, after the U19 level, the girls straight away jump into the senior level. The U23 gives them a platform for another four years to gradually progress to the senior team. So I think that is one thing very well initiated by the BCCI. We have few girls who fall in that category. They might be extremely talented but a U23 camp will help them hone their skills better and opens up more opportunities for them.”