Ramesh Powar is interim coach of Indian Women's cricket team

Ramesh Powar

After returning to the city following a short stint with Cricket Australia's young spinners as a spin bowling consultant in Brisbane last month, former India off-spinner Ramesh Powar has been asked to guide the Indian women's team as a interim coach."

Following the resignation of women's coach Tushar Arothe recently, the BCCI have invited applications for the job. However, till then, Powar will be conducting a 10-day camp in Bangalore, beginning July 25, for their upcoming Sri Lanka tour. "It's a matter of pride [to coach the national women's team], given the way this team has performed in the last year or so. I'm more than happy to be a part of their growth," Powar told mid-day yesterday.

After returning from Australia, Powar has appeared for two interviews, the first at the BCCI headquarters at the Wankhede Stadium for the position of spin bowling coach at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Later, he had a discussion with the Mumbai Cricket Association's (MCA) Cricket Improvement Committee for the Mumbai Ranji coach's job, which was eventually given to his former teammate and ex-Mumbai wicketkeeper-batsman Vinayak Samant. Powar is excited about his new challenge.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge [of working with the women's team] and will try my best to take Indian women's cricket forward," said Powar, who picked up 470 wickets and scored 4245 runs in 148 first-class games added.

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