WV Raman’s exit as the head coach comes at the wrong time for the Indian women’s team, in a year that was supposed to be their most crucial one in a long time. The Indian women’s team had just returned to international cricket for the first time in 15 months, after their glorious run in the Women’s World T20 in front of nearly 95,000 eyes. 

"By that, I mean it's not easy to come back after 15 months and play a one-day series and retain the focus and the intensity that is required to put the opposition under pressure,” he added. Raman was right, India didn’t lack talent, India didn’t lack skills but they lacked game-time, they lacked continuity, which has been the major hindrance since 2018. 

He gave the youngsters a chance, a rare opportunity to shine in front of the more experienced guys in world cricket. But as the accusations were being traded left-right-centre, Powar’s time as the coach was done. Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana’s letter fell to the blind eyes and the deaf ears as the team had moved on to the era of Raman, who took the team to new heights, with the World T20 final, in a tournament they really impressed. 

But what has always cost them is the continuity!

In 2018, a letter written by Harmanpreet Kaur to the BCCI stated Powar’s relationship with the team and the dressing room perfectly. The importance of the words being ‘motivate’, changed the face of the women’s cricket team technically and strategically. India had moved on from holding on to the dear pasts and moved into the unknown new. It stands true to date, India needed a coach who would do all of that, continue the Raman legacy. 

“Having kept in mind the confidence of each player that has built in the past three months, I tried to avoid and exceed the controversies blemishing our reputation. Sir Ramesh Powar not only improved us as players but did motivate us to set targets and challenge our own limits. He has changed the face of Indian women’s cricket team both technically and strategically. He has inculcated in us the sense of winning.”

The cry was clear, the words were clear, she even suggested that a change of coach will affect the growth. This is where the continuity comes into play, like the men’s team have become a force to be reckoned with in world cricket, it has come down to long-term stints. Since 2015, Ravi Shastri has been involved with the Indian team. 

Barring the one-year hiatus in between, Shastri has not just helped to transform the team into a world-beater across formats, he has also relied on the continuity factor, well expressed by the skipper, Virat Kohli. In the last four years, the women’s team have had stints from three coaches, which has made it extremely confusing. If there is one thing that has hurt the team, it is continuity. 

A day after they appointed him, everything broke loose, the secrets of the selection committee came out, the reason that they had dropped Taniya Bhatia and Shikha Pandey and ignored Shafali Verma came to the limelight. If the reasons are to be believed, that is where the continuity should come into play. Not just that, the fact that their fresh contracts haven't been announced despite it being well past the time, BCCI needs to start taking things seriously, starting from this term. 

Having one coach over the span of a long period will allow in that process and that combined with a selection committee that knows its players well would allow for the flourishment of the women’s team. For whichever way, the politics have spit venom in the system, and Powar needs to find a way to move past it and establish a boundary to take the team to a new height.