ICC Women's Cricket World Cup: All you need to know about India's fielding coach
The Indian Women’s team will embark on a new journey in just about a week’s time as they begin their quest for the Women’s World Cup in England. The team is currently enduring a dream run in the international arena with dominating performances in the World Cup Qualifiers in Colombo and the recently concluded quadrangular series in South Africa.
The Mithali Raj led outfit is bolstered by the inclusion of Biju George as the fielding coach of the team for the tournament. One of the most experienced coaches in the domestic circuit, Biju is expected to add a new dimension to the team and help the girls in improving their fielding standard.
The game is fast evolving with plenty of innovation and development to the techniques and fitness levels of the players, so the move comes as a huge boost for the Women's team in adapting to the changes of the modern game.
With a vast coaching experience amongst various age groups, here is everything you need to know about the new fielding coach of the team:
The journey
The undying passion for the game and the burning desire to serve this beautiful sport marked the beginning of an illustrious coaching career. The journey, first started in the year 1992 at the Sports Authority of India. Since then, Biju has been actively involved in the functioning of the organisation and is an integral part of all their coaching activities.
He has been nearly two decades of experience in the field of sports but his zeal to contribute and help in the growth and development of the players has remained constant.
Coaching the younger age groups
There is no better place to hone your skills and start your coaching career than working tirelessly at the grass root level for the betterment of the local players. With each passing day, you grow and mature as a coach and learn the finer points in the art of coaching the young and not-so-technically sound players.
Like players, Biju too went through the grind of age group cricket and evolved through the years as a completely different coach. His sheer hard work and extensive contributions to the younger age groups of cricket in Kerala produced talents like Sanju Samson and Sachin Baby. The two are the backbone of Kerala’s Ranji Trophy team and Samson has also performed consistently for his IPL franchise.
India under-19 assignment
The 51-year-old renowned coach has completed his level III certification in coaching from the Board of Control for Cricket in India in the year 2004. Since then, he has been an inherent part of the various camps conducted by the National Cricket Academy.
The first-ever National Cricket Academy camp conducted for the under-19 Women’s Team in 2013 was the turning point in his coaching career as he was at the helm of affairs as the Head Coach for the team. The side worked under his guidance for a period of 25 days in the first phase of the camp held at Women’s Academy, Guntur in the month of May and followed it with a review camp in September at National Cricket Academy, Bangalore.
He was appointed as the coach for the victorious India under-19 team that competed in the Asia Cup last year and also for the World Cup which they eventually lost in the quarter-finals of the tournament against England.
Stint with Kolkata Knight Riders
Biju’s success with the under-19 team earned him an opportunity to work with the Kuwait National team as their head coach for the ACC T-20 Qualifiers. His determination and the grit to work for the betterment of the game ensured that he worked in the best league in the business as a consultant for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.
Biju has been involved in the coaching setup for the Knight Riders in the past two seasons and has identified smaller details in the fielding department which has improved the team on the field. His exploits with the team and his timely inputs offered to the players have earned him appreciation from the head coach of the Knight Riders, Jacques Kallis.
We wish him and the Indian Women’s team all the very best for their future endeavours.