Former India opener Shiv Sunder Das has been named the batting coach of Indian women's cricket team for the upcoming tour of England.
Das, who played 23 Tests in the early 2000s, has 1326 runs to his name at an average of 34.89 with two centuries and nine fifties. He also featured in 4 ODIs but failed to leave a market in the 50-over format.
Having been appointed as batting coach, Das is now looking forward to use his NCA coaching stint to guide the women’s team during the trip.
"It will be good experience and I am looking forward to it," he told PTI in an exclusive chat.
"I have been part of NCA for last 4-5 years and have been batting coach for last couple of years. I would like to thank Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly for giving me this opportunity," he added.
"I don't think there is a lot of difference and at the end of the day, you impart your knowledge, and work with players. You contribute to their success and be ready to solve their cricketing issues when they require you. My responsibility is to make them well prepared and match ready."
Shiv Sunder Das was part of the Indian team that toured England in 2002 and he believes his experience of playing years of league cricket in UK will also prove to be handy while coaching.
"It will help that I have played a lot of cricket in England, including international cricket and league cricket. I know the conditions and those experiences I will share with them.
"A few of them have toured England multiple times and they have a bit of experience. Whatever time we have, we will see how many training sessions we get and make sure we use them properly," he said.
During the England tour, the Indian women’s team will be playing a Test match after seven years but the new batting coach feels adapting to conditions won't be very difficult with veteran campaigners like Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami in the side.
"The girls will be excited as they are getting an opportunity to play a Test match after a long time and it's a good initiative that they are playing the longer format.
"Jhulan and Mithali have played a lot of international cricket and they will easily adjust to it and it is a good time for young players as it gives opportunity to learn the art of building an innings or bowl a lot of overs, which is good for overall growth as a cricketer," he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
