There's a lot of politics in women's cricket, ex-women players should stay away: Former coach Tushar Arothe
In a scathing attack, former Indian women's coach Tushar Arothe has said the team environment is beset with 'politics' and 'appeasement'.
He accused some former female cricketers of interfering with the functioning of backroom staff and advised them to 'stay away'.
Unlike the men's side, the Indian women's team has seen a whopping four coaching changes in as many years.
The most recent of these was the re-appointment of Ramesh Powar, who coached the side for a few months in 2018 but didn't get an extension after a glaring fallout with senior batter Mithali Raj.
Tushar Arothe attributed this capriciousness to the team's culture of blaming coaches for poor performances.
"Simply put, there is a lot of politics in women’s cricket. In comparison, men’s cricket is very transparent. What I have seen from very close quarters in the team is that, there is a lot of appeasement going on. I think the blame falls on former women players. Also, it is about the culture in the team. If the team doesn’t do well in a tournament, the coach is sacked. If a player doesn’t get along well with the coach, the latter is changed at their behest. You look at the coach before me, the way Purnima Rau was treated after doing so well with the team is beyond belief," Arothe, who coached the team from 2017-2018, told News18.com.
Tushar Arothe also suggested a couple of solutions for the flagrant issue. He said the players needed to be more 'accountable' and 'unnecessary involvement', especially from some ex-cricketers, should be avoided at all costs.
" I think players should be made accountable for their’s and team’s performance. That’s how the responsibility will come in the team. And the other would be, ex-women players — who do have any business with the team or its functioning, should strictly stay away. I feel currently, that is not the case and there is an involvement of unnecessary people as well. I mean, they all mean well for the team, but it is clearly not helping," Tushar Arothe added.
"The selectors don’t have a vision" - Tushar Arothe
Tushar Arothe also tore into the team's selectors, who have already come under fire from some former cricketers.
Citing a couple of cases involving wicketkeeper Tania Bhatia and pacer Shikha Pandey, he claimed the decision-makers lacked vision and the system was a 'complete mess'.
"The selectors don’t have a vision. We were playing against South Africa after a long break. Shikha Pandey was not included in the team and I heard that she was rested. I mean, how do you rest a player who hasn’t played for 12 months? It is a complete mess. Look at Taniya Bhatia, safest pair of hands in team. She wasn’t included in the team. Now again for the tour of England, these players are back. I ask, on what basis were they left out, and have been brought back now," signed off Tushar Arothe.
The new machinery, headed by Powar and soon-to-be-announced support staff, will have a crucial tour of England for their first assignment. The all-format trip will begin on June 16 with a one-off Test match in Bristol.