WV Raman accuses of smear campaign against him after removal from head coach post

Outgoing India women’s cricket coach WV Raman has made allegations of smear campaign against him in his letter to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly. The letter which was reportedly marked to NCA head Rahul Dravid as well, Raman requested him to take action against it. Raman further stated that it would be “extremely disconcerting” if his candidature was rejected based on anything other than his “incompetency as a coach”. 

Raman, who was handed over the coaching duties of the national team in 2018 was surprisingly not retained despite the women's team doing well under his tutelage. Under his coaching, India reached the final of the 2020 T20 World Cup where they lost against Australia. The Cricket Advisory Committee headed by Madan Lal reappointed Ramesh Powar for the post after he was shown the door after a much-publicised rift with Mithali Raj in 2018. 

“I presume you might have been told different views about my style of functioning and work ethic. Whether those views conveyed to the officials of the BCCI had any impact on my candidature is of no consequence now,” Raman wrote in the letter according to PTI.

“What is important is that the smear campaign seems to have gained some unwarranted traction with some BCCI officials which needs to be halted permanently. I am prepared to give an explanation should you or any of the office bearers require it,” the letter further read. 

The former Indian batsman who appeared in 11 Tests and 27 ODIs for the national team between 1988 and 1997 said that if he was rejected due to his incompetence as a coach he won’t have any problems what so ever but if he was released due to some other reason then it is extremely disconcerting. 

“If I were to be rejected due to my incompetency as a coach, there is no argument on a judgment call at all. But what will be extremely disconcerting is if my candidature was rejected due to any other reasons,” said Raman. 

“Especially if it was due to allegations from people who were more focussed on achieving their personal objectives at the expense of the overall hygiene and welfare of the Indian women’s team and the pride of the country,” he further added. 

While no name was mentioned by Raman in his letter, it is understood that he was speaking about the star culture that prevails in the team which is perhaps doing more harm than good. 

“If some people in the system have been highly accommodative to the extent of being seemingly obsequious to an accomplished performers for years on end and if that performer feels constrained to adhere to the culture, then I would leave it to you to decide if the coach was asking for too much,” Raman wrote. 

“In a coaching career spanning 20 years, I have always created a culture in which the team always comes first and insisted on no individual overriding either the game or the team,” he further added.