Arguably one of the most seasoned cricketing coaches in the Indian circuit, Woorkeri Venkat Raman had a fairly successful stint with the women's team after his forays in the IPL. It was during Raman's stint as coach that India had delivered their best performance in T20 World Cup history, reaching the final of the 2020 edition, hosted by Australia.
Women’s T20 WC: Team India Lands In Dubai And Bumps Into South Superstar Rana Daggubati At Airport; Video
As another T20 World Cup is on the horizon, Harmanpreet Kaur and her girls are determined to lift their maiden trophy on October 20 in Dubai. With the Women's Premier League (WPL) in the circuit since two seasons now, the Indian team will hope to reap the rewards of the same in the multi-nation tournament in the UAE.
NEWS
Presenting #TeamIndia’s squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 #T20WorldCuppic.twitter.com/KetQXVsVLX— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) August 27, 2024
On that note, The Free Press Journal spoke to WV Raman to gain his insights ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup
Excerpts from the interview:
1) What is your squad assessment of India for this women’s T20 World Cup? Two players in Shreyanka Patil and Yastika Bhatia have been selected despite being under the injury cloud. Do you still see them lifting the trophy this year?
As a combination, it’s a good combination. The best as far as the selection of the team is concerned because they have picked players based on the past performances and also what they can do in a major event like the World Cup. So, Yastika Bhatia coming back is not a surprise to me because she has done well in the past. She is a very talented player and dual-competing player.
She is a keeper-batter so she can provide value to the side. Perhaps one area where they may not be satisfied is the pace department because primarily they don’t have the options because Titas Sadhu is injured, that’s the information that I received last due to which she is not fit for being selected in the squad. Otherwise they have done as well as they could have. I think this side has the capability and the potential to win the tournament.
2) Speaking of the venue change from Bangladesh, do you feel the conditions in the UAE could leave matches down to the toss? We saw in the men’s edition in 2021 how conditions became better for teams batting second and the pitches seemed to play well under the lights. Do you think that might be the case here too?
In any World Cup, given the format these days, I think it’s the side which can adapt at the drop of the hand is the one that’s going to go a long distance. You need to be extremely flexible because you are playing a different opponent every game. What you need to do is practically, technically, and individually adapt to be there on the job against every side. You cannot do the same things against every side.
So that’s one thing. To make things a bit more challenging is also the thing of playing day and night games. If it means to play all the games either way, it wouldn’t be that much of a challenge. But with a challenge of having to adapt quickly to a different side and different timings of the game can be a lot more challenging. As far as the timings of the game is concerned, a lot depends on luck as well.
Touchdown Dubai #TeamIndia | #T20WorldCup | #WomenInBluepic.twitter.com/dsVCET1AFA
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) September 25, 2024
Toss can sometimes be a crucial factor and toss is something you can’t do anything about. You can’t practice for winning a toss or losing a toss. As far as the skills are concerned, it can be practised, but for toss, there’s nothing much you can do about it.
3) What can India learn from their defeat in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka this year. The dropped catch from the captain proved costly, but where else do you feel India went wrong?
It’s not a case of where they went wrong as they might have made a couple of mistakes if you see the overall scenario. We also have to bear in mind that the challenge is not only going to come from countries like Australia, England, and New Zealand. Challenge is also going to come from the sub-continental teams because the Sri Lankan side has been terrific in the last two years. Chamari Athapaththu has been absolutely off the charts in the last two years as a captain and batter. She also has got new players who are contributing their might to the side.
The dangerous part is the belief that they have garnered over the last 18 months because they are doing well abroad and they are suddenly tasting success, which means each one of them is geared up with the thought that ‘We are capable of beating anybody’. That is something they didn’t have all these years. Once a talented side like Sri Lanka gets that self-belief, then everybody is in trouble.
Let’s not forget Pakistan as well, they’ve been doing well abroad, they’ve been beating stronger sides at home, doesn’t matter where you beat them. It’s once again a case of going through the cycle of international events and gaining the belief that as a team, if they play as well as they can, they are capable of beating any team. It’s the belief every team wants to have, garnering that strength. That is happening with the sub-continental sides. It’s going to be a fantastic tournament and India cannot be thinking that it’s a case of only having to do well against the good-old teams like Australia and England.
Let’s not forget South Africa as well. South Africa were the runners-up last time and that’s a nation which has got a lot of talent. They have also been playing very hard and making things difficult for the oppositions and the important fact with South African cricket is that they have a lot to gain out of this system individually and collectively.
They need to try and ensure that their cricket board starts pouring more money into their cricket, giving them a lot more incentive and lucrative contracts. They have a lot to gain, which means they are hungry as well in every way, not only success at the international stage, but also individually in terms of security that they might want to have once they finish up with their cricket.
4) The Australian side has been a thorn in India’s way for quite some time now. Not only for India, but for other sides too. With India grouped alongside Australia, how do you think they can stop the defending champions?
Australia is not as undefeatable as they were a couple of years ago. Let’s say, maybe till the time they won in 2020 and 2021. Under the last two years, they perhaps came out thinking it’s just another day in the park. But it’s not the same. There are a lot of changes that have happened there. There’s been a bit of a churn in their squad and the important cog in their wheel, Meg Lanning has retired. That’s made a huge difference to them.
It’s not a case of a side suddenly becoming ordinary because of a successful captain retiring. It’s also a case of other players retiring before her and it takes time for a new captain to get things sorted out and to gain the kind of respect or have the kind of instincts to make the right moves at the right time.
T20 World Cup champions for a SIXTH time!
Best team on the planet pic.twitter.com/P2c3Y4YsrQ— Australian Women’s Cricket Team (@AusWomenCricket) February 26, 2023
We are looking at Meg Lanning, who has been captaining for a long time. Now Alyssa Healy has taken over from Lanning. So, it will take some time for her to develop the same kind of instinct and the same kind of confidence that a successful captain needs to have.
5) A few Indian women’s cricketers have played in The Hundred and the CPL. Different conditions, but how beneficial do you feel those stints will be for them ahead of the World Cup?
It would have broadened their viewpoints and would have made them realize the different ways of playing cricket. Also, different things that can be done in a T20 format. It would also have made them realize they cannot live in their comfort zones and would have to start seeing things differently.
They might be used to seeing things one way and once they play in a different league, in a multicultural tournament. Every cricketing culture is different, so when they partake in different tournaments or leagues, where cricketing cultures can be different, it broadens their horizon and makes them well-rounded individuals and not just cricketers.
6) There were some reports floating around that the BCCI had interviewed you for the position of the head coach of the Indian men’s team. Did you apply for it?
Yes, I did. (When asked more about it) That’s a lot of water under the bridge. Let’s not go back to that. I don’t want to go back to what happened in the past. That’s my nature, basically, and that’s the kind of person I am. I’ve not spoken about the Indian women’s team either once I finished my term with them. Once I’m done with something, I move on from it.
7) Speaking of the Indian men’s team, they started their home season on a magnificent note with a comprehensive win over Bangladesh in the first Test. Early days, but bright signs already ahead of the Australia tour in November?
See, it’s a good start. But let’s not forget they were in a spot of bother and were bailed out by the lower-order batters, which is perhaps the strength of this particular unit that’s been playing for the last 4-5 years. The lower-order batters, they don’t know the words ‘give up’. Regardless of the situation and the challenges, we’ve seen in the last tour of Australia as well. You’ve seen it happen time and again, both home and away.
So, that’s a great sign. But what also cannot be overlooked is the fact that we need to have a lot more consistency from the top order as well. That’s something that everybody will be looking forward to and if the runs are put up by the top-order batters, I think India has got the best bowling attack now, especially the fast bowlers.
It's a fantastic unit. It’s going to be a great challenge for Australia at home itself because that’s the kind of players we have at the moment. It’s more or less like having players who just walks in and lords in and they do it as well and have done it on a lot of occasions. You have seen Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, Natarajan – bring anybody into the eleven and they go out there and say ‘What is it that you require of me and it’ll be done’.
That’s how they approach this and the challenges they encounter in international cricket and overcome as well brilliantly. In terms of overall aspects, I don’t see it a problem at all as it has become a culture now. They say give us challenges and we will do it. That’s the kind of attitude they have now which is good. Be that as may, just so that the Aussie bowlers are made to think they may get tired sooner, it will be brilliant if the top-order gets into their act quickly and they execute their things repeatedly and consistently. Once they do that, the Aussies will be on the backfoot.
8) Speaking of R Ashwin, given his contributions in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai, he seems to be aging like a fine wine. How long do you see him playing, based on his current form?
That is something even R Ashwin cannot say himself. It’s not about age. It’s got nothing to do with Ashwin’s age. I’ve always felt that or rather advocate is a cricketer’s thing of quitting comes from when they think ‘Do I have to go for training today’ It’s the mind saying enough because you’re driven by wanting to be there, your mental energy. You’re driven by the mind, which can take on challenges and go out there to do something which you enjoy.
So, once that fizzles out, that mental enthusiasm fizzles out, doesn’t matter how young you are. If your mind is not there, you got to say ‘I’ve had enough’. ‘I’ve done it all and seen it all’. So it’s a case of when Ashwin’s mind gets up one morning and saying, ‘Okay Ashwin, don’t you think you’ve been there long enough’.
Who else but Ashwin?
The ace spinner strikes to give #TeamIndia their first breakthrough of Day 4️⃣!#INDvBAN#IDFCFirstBankTestSeries#JioCinemaSportspic.twitter.com/8EKS3vNriA— JioCinema (@JioCinema) September 22, 2024
So when he’s posed that question, he will start thinking about it. Until then, he won’t. That could happen tomorrow. That could happen four years later. It’s a kind of abstract that nobody even can predict.
9) What do you make of Virat Kohli’s low scores in the first Test? Do you feel he does struggle against spin bowling and his gameplay is not as strong as it used to be?
A man who has done so much for a long period of time and has got tens of thousands of runs, how are we even saying he struggles against X bowler, Y bowler, spin, pace. He’s obviously been good enough to plunder runs against all types of bowlers and attacks. If somebody has a long career, he might not churn about the numbers that is expected of him. It also speaks of the standards he has set for others to have such kind of expectations. In a way, it’s his fault because of the high standards he has set.
I always have a bit of a chuckle when people write or suggest ‘he can’t play X kind of bowling’. That’s a bit strange. It’s impossible for any one of us to do any particular thing consistently the same manner that you’ve done over a long period of time. Even without pressure, if we were to sign on ten occasions, we will not get it right. There will be a lot of variables in that.
Cricket is a game where a lot of mental and physical co-ordination involved. In order to tackle the variables involved – pitch, bowlers, bounce, turn, swing anything you can think of. So, all these things that you can encounter, to match, to counter it, to overcome them or succeed by repeatedly being well co-ordinated mentally and physically, it’s humanly impossible. To do it in the same level at every outing.
10) Who do you think will be the top four, highest wicket-taker, highest run-getter, and Player of the Tournament in this Women's T20 World Cup?
Let me put it this way. Pooja Vastrakar should be the leading wicket-taker for India to do well. The reason I’m saying that is it’s the one area we don’t have the experience and she’s been doing really well in the last 18 months. If she goes on to, let’s say the 1st or 2nd highest-wicket taker for India, I think they will do extremely well in the tournament. If Harmanpreet fires on all cylinders, I think we will go on to win the tournament.