India women’s cricket team has been going through a rough patch recently and the disastrous World Cup campaign knocked them out in the league stage. Head coach Ramesh Powar’s contract has been concluded with India’s exit from the tournament and according to a report by PTI, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be searching for a replacement of Powar. 

Powar had replaced WV Raman for the post. Raman enjoyed a successful stint with the team as he guided the team into the T20 World Cup final in 2020. A source confirmed the development of the search for a new candidate. 

"Powar's contract was till World Cup. There is no provision for extension. So the entire process starts with applications and interviews. Powar can certainly reapply and CAC (Cricket Advisory Committee), as per the constitution, will take a call," a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

It was a surprising decision to discontinue Raman who was producing results with the team. Also, the eyebrows were raised when Ramesh Powar who has a chequered history with skipper Mithali Raj was appointed. The anonymous source revealed that it was a call by CAC.

"The CAC takes the call and if they felt Ramesh would do better than Raman, it was their call. The board can't interfere," the source said.

The current tenure of Powar was quite disappointing as the team lost almost all of the series they played under his guidance and the exit from the showpiece event was the final disaster. Now, with a possible radical shift in women’s cricket, VVS Laxman will play a bigger role in mentoring the next batch of cricketers. The report suggests that he and Rahul Dravid will be consulted going forward. 

Also, the replacement for Jhulan Goswami still remains an unanswered puzzle for the team. 

"Even if you move past Mithali, in case of Jhulan there aren't too many replacements. So that's also a problem that the board is facing. Hopefully, the planned WIPL will unearth enough talent for future," the source said.