The India women’s cricket team has scaled new heights in the last decade even though the glaring evidence of a haphazard approach and an unsystematic structure is visible now and then. These elements still haunt the women’s cricket team of India so badly that it finds itself without a head coach and bowling coach just a month away from the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
The only personnel that is with the Indian women’s cricket team is their batting coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Kanitkar was appointed the batting coach of the team on December 06, 2022, after the BCCI removed Romesh Pawar from the role of the head coach and placed him at the National Cricket Academy, Bangalore.
Ever since Pawar was shifted to the NCA and Kanitkar was appointed as the batting coach, the BCCI has not invited applications for the positions of the head coach and bowling coach. Additionally, the Cricket Advisory Committee, which is responsible for scouting applicants for these positions, has no clue about the hiring process either.
The Indian women’s cricket team was the runner-up in the previous 2 ICC tournaments – ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 and ICC T20 Women’s World Cup 2020. These performances make this team one of the pre-tournament favorites. And, here they stand on the verge of participating in the ICC Women’s T20 world cup without a head coach and bowling coach.
The Indian team is currently training at the NCA before they leave next week for a tri-series in South Africa. Without a head coach and bowling coach, the Indian team is figuring out things on its own.
The BCCI’s approach towards the inaugural U19 Women’s World Cup is very different from the senior team. A set of U19 players are already undergoing training under the skillful eyes of great coaches and support staff. What has the senior women’s team done to be treated this way by the BCCI is still a mystery for the fans and journalists.
India is placed in Group B alongside Ireland, Pakistan, West Indies and England. The 2020 runners-up will kickstart their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 12 in Cape Town.