Overlooking Gary Kirsten for post of Indian women’s team coach is a joke, says BCCI official

Overlooking Gary Kirsten for post of Indian women’s team coach is a joke, says BCCI official

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Written by: SportsCafe Desk

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An inside source in the BCCI called the decision to overlook Gary Kirsten for the post of head coach of the Indian women’s team as a joke considering everything he has achieved in the past. BCCI shortlisted Kirsten, WV Raman, and Venkatesh Prasad for the job but opted to select Raman in the end.

BCCI announced the appointment of WV Raman as the new head coach of the Indian women’s cricket team ahead of the other two short-listed candidates, Venkatesh Prasad and Gary Kirsten. However, an inside source in the BCCI spoke about his doubts surrounding Raman’s appointment as he claimed that Kirsten would have been the better choice, without a shred of doubt.

"The presentation was exhaustive and extremely impressive. For the first time, Gary wasn’t even considering bringing in his own support staff — Paddy Upton and Eric Simmons — like he had done back in 2008. He came with an open mind. He doesn’t do it very often and there are many national teams which have experienced it. And what does BCCI do? Tell him he’s conflicted?,” the official told TOI.

The BCCI rejected the world cup-winning coach’s application on Thursday as they cited a ‘conflict of interest’ behind their decision. Kirsten had previously shied away from many high-profile roles in India after the World Cup triumph in 2011 but made an exception for South Africa. After helping his country climb to the top of the world Test rankings, he had only recently agreed to join IPL franchise - Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

“Who does these kind of things? When you’re listing out the eligibility criteria, is it not your responsibility to let the applicant know if he’s qualified to apply? You have Kirsten walking in and saying ‘I want to work with women’s cricket’ and you say ‘no’. Why? Because he’s working with a T20 club and that too men? This is a joke,” an official told TOI.

The ad hoc panel that were in charge to appoint the next coach had short-listed Kirsten, WV Raman and former pacer-turned-selector Prasad for the role and sent e-mails to the candidates in that order of preference. However, Kirsten’s contract with RCB turned out to be a red flag for the BCCI who opted to go with Raman who was the next best candidate in terms of profile and presentation.

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