Women’s cricket: Player power leads to Powar ouster

The board has not named any new head coach for the women’s team. Instead, former India cricketer Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who has been a batting consultant at the NCA, has been elevated to the senior women’s team as batting coach and will oversee operations. Kanitkar has already linked up with the side in Mumbai as India are set to face Australia in a T20I series beginning on Friday. Kanitkar is not new to the women’s team set-up as he accompanied it to Sri Lanka as batting coach and was also there when they clinched silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Kanitkar also enjoys a good rapport with the players, especially with regards to the technical aspects and players often rely on him for inputs.

Although the press release issued by the BCCI didn’t mention any reasons for the reshuffle, the timing raised eyebrows as the ICC women’s T20 World Cup is just two months away. However, it is reliably learnt that the BCCI was forced to act after some of the senior players requested for a change of guard, which even the top board officials felt was necessary, having sat through a few meetings with Powar themselves.

According to those in the know, few of the players seem to have expressed their concerns, especially with regard to board-room planning and tactical issues. They are also understood to have informed the selectors about their reservations in the past.

Several complaints

During the meeting with the BCCI top brass, it is understood that the players also spoke about the short team meetings and lack of communication and inputs from Powar. It is understood that a few of the support staff who had worked alongside Powar with the women’s team in the recent past had also raised similar concerns in their feedback to the BCCI. With selectors also not on the same page as Powar, the writing was on the wall.

It is understood that the board was contemplating the move for a while and finally decided to pull the plug after consultation with all the stakeholders. The BCCI had informed Powar before their decision to make Kanitkar the batting coach and he was offered the role at NCA, which he agreed to take.

This is not the first time Powar’s tenure has come to an abrupt end. In 2018, just months after being appointed head coach, he was not given an extension by the Committee of Administrators as he had a fallout with former captain Mithali Raj. When he was reappointed by the BCCI in 2021, concerns still persisted about his people management skills, but Powar was still chosen ahead of WV Raman, who had guided the team to the final of the 2020 T20 World Cup.

With just two months left for the T20 World Cup in South Africa, the BCCI is unlikely to bring in a new head coach. However, newly- appointed batting coach Kanitkar is expected to be in charge of the team with head of cricket at NCA, VVS Laxman likely to help with the preparations for the big event. Kanitkar, who has been part of the NCA, was the head coach of the men’s Under-19 team that won the World Cup earlier this year, and has assisted the India A team on a regular basis as a batting consultant. Moreover, he has also been part of the senior men’s side as batting coach whenever Rahul Dravid & his support staff have been given a break.

With Powar’s contract running till the World Cup, the BCCI has now placed him at the NCA as a spin-bowling coach. It is understood that the former India spinner will also link up with the men’s team as and when required as there is talk of having a specialist spin-bowling coach till the 50-over World Cup.