Letter to Sourav Ganguly was to ensure players adhere to healthy team culture, admits WV Raman
Raman spoke about the mentality in the dressing room
|BCCI
After his exit as the coach of the Indian womenâs team, WV Raman has admitted that his letter to BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was merely to ensure players adhered to healthy team culture. He also added that during his tenure, he advised the players to put aside the differences and play together.
In the last three years, the Indian womenâs team has grown from strength to strength, reaching the semi-final and final of the World T20 event. Remarkably, last year, the side reached its first World T20 final, against Australia after amazing achievements earlier in the competition. Under WV Raman, the side also had a long wait without cricketing action, owing to the COVID-19 situation in the country.Â
However, with his contract coming to a close in the summer, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to not renew his contract, instead appointing Ramesh Powar as the new head coach. Following that, Raman had written a letter to the board, which was leaked in the media. Raman admitted that his letter to BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was to only ensure players adhered to healthy team culture in the next tenure.Â
â(Laughs) My writing to Sourav was to propel him into action to course-correct, if required. The letter dealt with the need for the system to encourage or ensure players adhere to a healthy team culture. Ganguly has seen it all as a former player and captain, and therefore, I felt it was better to get him into the frame. I also added Dravid because he handles cricketers of the future and might make certain aspects a part of the curriculum in the NCA, if he hasn't already,â WV Raman told Cricbuzz.Â
The former Indian batsman also stated that there were some âundercurrentsâ between certain individuals before he took control over the side. Raman reckoned that he only asked the team to put aside the differences and take the field as a team.Â
âWhen I took charge, there were some undercurrents between certain individuals in the side but all that was handled by making them understand that the team is far more important than individuals. That whatever they had achieved thus far, whatever history they had created, they had to keep on replicating that by doing well,â he added.Â
âAnd that it is also in the interest of everybody to shed their differences and not carry it on to the field for the simple reason that they stood to benefit a lot more in every respect because as a team, they were gaining momentum. So there were no issues along those lines when I was there.â
The stylish batsman also expressed that the âway of operationâ must change in order for womenâs cricket to grow in the future. He also clearly stated that his letter was not against any particular individual but against such attitude in the dressing room.Â
âWhat I have tried to say in my letter is very simple -- that it's very easy to get carried away doing things in one particular fashion for a long period of time. That's what has been happening. That needs to change.â
âThat's what I have tried to drive home in my letter. It's not against any one particular individual as such. Sometimes, things can escape your attention, and I have tried to do my bit to address that.â
