Indian women’s cricket team head coach Tushar Arothe has resigned from his role, four months ahead of the ICC Women’s World T20 in West Indies, the BCCI confirmed on Tuesday.
Having never failed to win the Asia Cup in their history, the women in blue suffered a disappointing reverse in the seventh edition that concluded recently in Malaysia. Bangladesh ended India’s stranglehold on the trophy with a nail-biting three-wicket win in the final at Kuala Lampur on Sunday, June 10. The tournament, played in the T20 format, came as a setback to the Indian team, who were hoping to build momentum for the standalone World T20 in the Caribbean.
The report said Arothe cited “personal reasons” as the main reason for resigning, but also went on to state that “strained relations with some of the Indian players, who he said need to step out of their “comfort zone” for a better future of Indian women’s cricket” was part of his decision to step down.
The BCCI said in a release that they accepted Arothe’s resignation. “The Board would like to convey that it has been a pleasure working with Mr. Arothe and would like to thank him for his services towards the Indian Women’s team,” the release added.
But reports emerged after the Asia Cup defeat that all was not well within the Indian camp, with players not happy with some of the training methodologies.
Arothe, a former first-class cricketer who turned up for Baroda in more than 100 first-class games, had previously worked as the India women fielding coach and also had a stint as head coach between 2008 and 2012.
While India enjoyed a memorable tour of South Africa earlier in the year, their form since has been patchy at best, with defeats to Australia in a bilateral series and in the T20I tri-series, also involving England. Under his stint, the team reached the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup in 2017.
India will begin their World T20 campaign in the tournament opener to be held in the West Indies from November 9 to 24. The event kicks off at the Guyana National Stadium, starting with India taking on New Zealand.
India, who are yet to win the tournament in five attempts, face Pakistan in their second game on November 11. India’s remaining leagues games will be against a qualifier and Australia on November 15 and 17 respectively.