Muzumdar, Arothe in shortlist for India women head coach

Amol Muzumdar, Tushar Arothe and Jon Lewis* are among at least five candidates understood to be part of BCCI's shortlist for the position of head coach of the Indian women's team. It couldn't be confirmed if Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the current interim head coach, is part of the shortlist.

The BCCI-appointed Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) is expected to interview the candidates on July 1-2 in Mumbai. This committee, chaired by former India batter Ashok Malhotra, also comprises former India players Jatin Paranjape and Sulakshana Naik. They are likely to assess presentations made by the candidates before an announcement is expected "on or before July 3".

The new coach is likely to be given a two-year term, to begin with. The BCCI is keen on continuity, given two ICC events - the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2024 and the 50-over World Cup in India in 2025 - are within this period.

The position has been vacant since December 2022, when Ramesh Powar was abruptly removed as part of BCCI's "restructuring module" two months ahead of the T20 World Cup in South Africa. Since then, Kanitkar has been handed the top job in an interim capacity.

Muzumdar, meanwhile, has also been offered the position of head coach of Baroda's senior men's team for the 2023-24 domestic season. Earlier, he was the head coach of Mumbai until the 2022-23 domestic season. It's understood that Muzumdar hasn't formally accepted Baroda's offer and is awaiting the CAC's decision over the India women's head coach position.

Muzumdar has been an active coach since he called time on a 21-year first-class career during which he became one of the highest run-getters in the Ranji Trophy. Following 15 years with Mumbai, Muzumdar moved to Assam in 2009 and later to Andhra.

He amassed 11167 runs from 171 first-class matches, with 30 centuries. He went on to win eight Ranji titles with Mumbai. Since his retirement, he has coached age-group sides at the NCA, has been at the helm for Mumbai and has been part of the coaching staff at Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and South Africa [for their tour of India in 2019] briefly.

Meanwhile, Arothe, a Ranji Trophy winner with Baroda, has had two stints with India women, most recently between April 2017 and July 2018. In this period, the team finished runners-up at the 50-over World Cup in England. Soon after, he resigned citing "personal reasons" after strained relations with a few senior players who he felt "needed to step out of their comfort zone."

Among the overseas names is Lewis, 53, who played County Cricket for Durham and Essex across a career that spanned 205 first-class matches and 236 List A games. He is the coach of the Trent Rockets in the Women's Hundred, and was up for the England job as well but that went to a different Jon Lewis.

While the BCCI is keen to have the new coach link up with the squad ahead of India's upcoming tour of Bangladesh in July, it's likely Kanitkar could be in charge of the squad in a stop-gap arrangement if he isn't handed the reigns full-time. Kanitkar, the former India allrounder, is an NCA-certified coach and is currently in charge of the Under-19 probables camp in Bengaluru.

India women haven't played international cricket since the T20 World Cup in South Africa in February-March where they were the losing semi-finalists. In May, the BCCI had shortlisted a targeted group of 30 players and put them through a rigorous conditioning camp in Bengaluru.

Their next assignment is a limited-overs tour to Bangladesh beginning July 9. The BCB expects the Indian team to arrive in Dhaka on July 6, but the BCCI's selection committee is yet to name the squad for the tour comprising three ODIs and as many T20Is. It's understood that the members of the "targeted group" that attended the NCA camp have all been asked to submit their passports for the BCCI to fast-track their visa applications.