Former opener WV Raman’s unceremonious dismissal as head coach of the Indian women’s team has opened a can of worms, with the BCCI’s Madan Lal-led Cricket Advisory Committee and Neetu David-led selection panel also under scrutiny. Raman, who led the Indian women’s team to the T20 World Cup final in Australia and is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the country, was fired by Lal and Naik’s CAC, which reinstated Ramesh Powar, who had been fired from the same role in 2018. Is Madan Lal’s committee in violation of Lodha rules?
“Maddi paaji (as Madan Lal is known in the Indian cricket community) turned 70 years old on March 20, 2021. The BCCI would not call for a rollback of the age limit of 70 years in its Supreme Court challenge against any of the amendments. So, how did Madan Lal get a seat at the CAC meeting? “a more senior member inquired.
Though the BCCI has no intention of using its veto to overturn Lal and Naik’s decisions, the board’s top officials are baffled as to why Raman was recommended for dismissal.
Sanjay Naik, the president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, is the younger sister of former India star Sulakshana. She’s been to three CAC meetings so far with different appointments. Someone familiar with the eight interviews said it seemed as if Naik had made up her mind that Raman had to be fired for only one bad series, ignoring the fact that she knew full well that the decision was made by her ex-teammate Neetu David’s commission.
“One surprising question Raman was asked was how he should take credit for the women’s team making the T20 final while Ramesh Powar put together the team,” the source said.
According to the official, the line of questioning made it clear that the stage was set for Powar’s reinstatement.
“Even though we assume Ramesh and Mithali Raj had issues back then and there wasn’t enough evidence to eliminate Ramesh,” he wondered, “does two wrongs make a right?”
“By that reasoning, Ramesh is inheriting a team that Raman prepared,” he countered, referring to Sulakshana’s point during Raman’s 45-minute presentation.
Was there a squabble between Raman and Neetu David during the SA selection process?
Raman had red-flagged the kind of squad that David, Arati Vaidya, Renu Margrate, Mithu Mukherjee, and V Kalpana selected for the South Africa series, for which teen batting sensation Shafali Verma was not picked for the ODIs and senior pacer Shikha Pandey was inexplicably cut, according to multiple reports.
While neither David nor Raman could be reached for comment, it is believed that the BCCI now documents all selection meetings. The modifications were not approved by the recently fired coach.
“Do you know what kind of reasoning was used to justify the removal of Shikha and Shafali? It is incomprehensible “a frustrated senior official expressed his displeasure.
Pandey was deemed unfit by the selectors because she had not worked hard on her training during lockdown and was “overweight.”
“However, when asked to prove their case, they were unable to do so,” the official claimed.
Shafali’s fielding was doubted, and this was cited as the reason for her non-selection for the ODI squad.
“If Raman had a counter-question, he might say that if Shafali’s fielding is a problem in 50-over cricket, it’s a much bigger problem in T20 cricket, where fielding is more important. Then, how does she get picked in the T20 format? “the official inquired
C Prathyusha, a leg-spinner, and Monica Patel, a left-arm seamer, were both asked because they didn’t seem to be ready for the rigours of international cricket. In one of the match, Prathyusha scored 60 runs in 8 innings.
“How did Monica beat out Shikha Pandey for the job?” is a question that has been raised.