Indian Women's cricket team players Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Ekta Bisht, are highly impressed with their new head coach Ramesh Powar’s young and aggressive approach.
Powar, who took over the role in July 2018 after Tushar Arothe was removed as women’s coach because of controversial circumstances, will be the team's coach till the World T20 in November.
Mandhana told reporters at Aaj Tak's Mumbai Manthan 2018 conclave, “It was a mental switch. Technically we have some of the best players in the world but mentally somehow we were not able to be as aggressive as needed. And I think here our new coach Ramesh Powar has had a big role to play. Ahead of the T20 series, he told us to go on the attack. Not to go in with any defensive mindset. He played a big part in our batting performances in Sri Lanka.”
Mandhana, who was the highest scorer in the Super league in England, felt that the women's game is now becoming a fast sport. She noted, “After the World Cup (2017), momentum has picked up and with the Big Bash and Super league, our cricket has become fast. Recently when we were playing the tri series against England and Australia, we scored 199 and lost the match. Earlier 200 runs in a women's T20 match was a huge thing and no one would give the team chasing a chance. But these scores are now seen. 160/170 are no longer safe totals in women's cricket.”
Under the new coach, India won all the four T20s against Sri Lanka last month after having been poorly thrashed in the T20 home tri-series against Australia and England in March this year.
Jemimah said, “Sri Lanka tour was very crucial for me because I was short of runs. Ramesh Sir helped me a lot with a technical improvement as well. And he backed me a lot. He has made a huge impact in terms of mental side of things. He has basically encouraged us to dominate which has helped.”
Meanwhile, there is one more benefit of having Powar in the support staff as he has been the bowling expertise that he has brought to the table.
The left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht signed off by saying, “You can say it's a blessing for bowlers to have him. Because for a long time we have felt there should be a bowling coach and now our head coach is a top bowler so it really helps.”
(Input: India Today)
