BCCI begins search for next head coach of the India women's team

The BCCI has invited applications for the position of head coach of the India women's team. The spot has been vacant since Ramesh Powar was transferred to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru ahead of the women's T20 World Cup earlier this year.

A BCCI statement said that the applicant would be expected to have played international cricket, or be at least an NCA Level C-certified coach, or have a similar certification from a reputed organisation along with an experienced of 50 first-class games, or have an experience of coaching an international team for one season or a T20 franchise for two seasons.

Apart from developing a strong team, developing the women's coaching setup, and monitoring fitness standards and high performance standards, the head coach is also expected to "address the media as instructed by BCCI from time to time", the statement added.

Powar took charge of the team in 2021 after WV Raman's tenure ended. Under him, India drew the one-off Tests in England and Australia in 2021 and ended Australia's record 26-match winning streak in ODIs, but crashed out of the 50-over World Cup in 2022 in the league stage.

But they won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games last year before blanking England 3-0 in an ODI series in England. His last series at the helm was India's victorious T20 Asia Cup campaign in October.

In December last year, though, Powar was made spin-bowling coach at the NCA. Batting coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar was put in charge of the team for the T20 World Cup, where India narrowly lost to Australia in the semi-final.

The deadline for submitting applications for the post, the tenure for which has not been made public, is 6pm IST on May 10. India's next assignment is a tour of Bangladesh for a bilateral series in June.