"You have to listen to your coach," says Mithali Raj

After the culmination of two major cricketing events- the Champions Trophy and Women’s World Cup 2017, we take a recap and analyse how the Indian teams (Men and Women) performed. While both the Men’s and Women’s squad displayed tremendous perseverance and integrity to qualify for the finals, they, however, lacked that final touch which left the nation with a trophy-less summer. Keeping aside the technicalities of the game for the pundits, we dig a little deeper and analyse the coach-skipper relationship of both the teams.

Not so long ago, the Men in Blue were troubled due to an ongoing rift between then-coach Anil Kumble and skipper Virat Kohli. An estrangement, that resulted in the resignation of one of India’s best spinner from the helm. Along with the departure, resurfaced a lot of insights. But all that has been done and dusted. And it’s a new dawn under the tutelage of the newly appointed chief coach, Ravi Shastri.

India started their campaign in CT 2017 as favourites under Kumble. However, by the end of the tournament, Kumble was no longer the coach. Sensing, something must have gone terribly wrong in the dressing rooms, the loss to arch-rival Pakistan in the CT finals was expected to be coming.

Mithali Raj opens up about her relationship with coach Tushar Arothe

The Women’s World Cup followed the CT. The Indian eves entered the tournament as dark horses. But the Mithali Raj led side put up an impressive display, finishing as the runners-up after narrowly losing out to hosts England by 9 runs in a scintillating finale. And this time, the coach and captain gelled.

Speaking about how a good coach-skipper relationship can be beneficial for the team, Raj opened up in an interview with ET Panache in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The Indian ace was quoted saying, “We knew what my role as captain was and what his role as coach was. We were in sync and that is what helped both of us as well as the team. Everyone gives their views, but as a player, you have to listen to your coach. We would talk and listen to each other and then sort the issues we had. Tushar worked with us earlier so we have good communication. Both of us were ready to see the positives in what the other had to say about a particular conflict point.”