The BCCI has confirmed the appointment of former India batsman WV Raman as head coach of the women's team.
Raman's selection was based on recommendations of the ad-hoc committee comprising India's first World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev, former India opener Anshuman Gaekwad and ex-women's team member Shantha Rangaswamy.
The ad-hoc committee conducted interviews of the shortlisted candidates at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Thursday.
According to a statement from the board, "The ad-hoc committee decided on the following three names in the order of preference: Gary Kirsten, WV Raman and Venkatesh Prasad."
"However, Kirsten was unable to take up this assignment due to his ongoing contract with an Indian Premier League franchise, which would have entailed conflict of interest as per the BCCI constitution."
"In view of this, the BCCI appointed Raman as the head coach of the Indian women's team," it added.
WV Raman is a former Tamil Nadu opening batsman, who played 11 Tests and 27 ODIs in an international career spanning nine years from 1988 to 1997. Post retirement, he has served as the head coach for Tamil Nadu and Bengal teams. He was assistant coach of Kings XI Punjab in 2013 and the batting coach of Kolkata Knight Riders when they won their second IPL title in 2014. In 2015, he was appointed the batting coach at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
It is learnt that the ad-hoc panel suggested to the Committee of Administrators (CoA), the name of Kalpana Venkatachar to be hired as a deputy. She is a former India Test batsman and current coach of the Meghalaya women's team, and the only female candidate to have been interviewed.
Panel member Anshuman Gaekwad said that it had done its ‘job in the best manner’. "The interviews were conducted only for the head coach and not any deputy or assistant role or any other support staff," he added.
With IANS inputs