Ramesh Powar's stormy first stint as India women's cricket team coach makes his comeback surprising

Ramesh Powar made a dramatic comeback as the coach of the India women’s cricket team on Thursday. Powar replaced WV Raman – the man who, incidentally, replaced him in the position as head coach. Powar was in charge of the India women’s team for a brief period in 2018. Following the resignation of Tushar Arothe from the post, Powar took over the position – first on an interim and then on a permanent basis. However, he did not get an extension in his tenure after the ICC Women’s World Cup 2018.

The return of Ramesh Powar is surprising because of what happened on the field in 2018. Mithali Raj, the leading run-getter in Twenty20 Internationals and ODIs in women’s cricket, was benched for the semi-final against England in the 2018 ICC World T20. Mithali had hit two fifties and helped the team reach the semi-final. She was not scoring at an aggressive rate but that hardly mattered with India winning.

With Mithali dropped, India suffered a catastrophic collapse of 8/23 to lose to England and crash out of the World Cup. Following the disaster, events off the field quickly highlighted the bitterness in the Indian dressing room.

Powar found Mithali Raj ‘difficult to handle’

Powar admitted that his professional relationship with Mithali was strained as he always found her ‘aloof’ and ‘difficult to handle’. This prompted Mithali to slam Powar and accuse Committee of Administrators’ head Diana Edulji of bias. “For the first time in a 20-year long career, I felt deflated, depressed and let down. I am forced to think if my services to my country are of any value to a few people in power who are out to destroy me and break my confidence,” Mithali wrote on her Twitter handle.

The controversy did not end there. Mithali’s manager Annisha Gupta dubbed Harmanpreet Kaur as “manipulative, lying, immature and undeserving” as captain. The Committee of Administrators (CoA) demanded Mithali’s fitness logs.

The situation did not improve with Harmanpreet openly backing Powar and saying that India women’s cricket was on the upswing because of him.

Ramesh Powar replaces Raman

When Powar did not get an extension, WV Raman got the head coach’s job. In his tenure, he coached India to the final of the 2020 ICC Women’s World T20 where they lost to Australia.

Powar’s return means that Harmanpreet Kaur’s backing is visible. It was under Powar that Harmanpreet had a good run as skipper. Now, how will Powar handle the relationship with Mithali will be interesting to see. 

Powar’s first assignment will be the tour to England. In that series, India will play ODIs, T20Is and a Test. The Test match will be after a gap of seven years. Mithali will be the pillar of the side in terms of the Test and ODIs. Speaking to Sports Today, former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta has said Powar must sort out the differences with Mithali if India are to achieve success.

The 2022 Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand might be Mithali’s final World Cup. India came close in 2017 but they lost to an inspired England outfit by nine runs in Lord’s. If Mithali and Powar can overcome their issues, then India women’s cricket will benefit even more.