India women’s coach Tushar Arothe resigns

Less than five months before the Women’s World T20, Tushar Arothe has stepped down as the head coach of the Indian women’s team, soon after reports of discord within the team had surfaced after their Asia Cup loss. Although he cited “personal reasons” as the primary reason for resigning, Arothe revealed 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.

Arothe’s resignation comes on the heels of India’s loss in the final of the Asia Cup last month, to Bangladesh by three wickets. Immediately, reports of alleged discord between Arothe and some of the high-profile players surfaced.

Those speculations gained further weightage after Arothe last week met BCCI officials including Diana Edulji, the former India women’s captain, who is part of the the Committee of Administrators (CoA). The BCCI accepted Arothe’s resignation, which he tendered on Monday evening.*

Arothe’s resignation coincides with the completion of two skills-specific camps he had been overseeing at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru since June 30. Before leaving for his home town Baroda, Arothe emphasised while he “had one of the best support staff to work with”, he hoped the players showed “more intent” to take on challenges to “move to the next level.”

“I have no grudge, no ill-will against any player, and I wish them all the best for the forthcoming tours and the World T20 in November,” Arothe told ESPNcricinfo. “I’ll say I had one of the best support staff to work with. But I hope the team learns that to achieve bigger things, to move to the next level, one needs to come out of their comfort zone. And I wish to see more honesty and more intent from the players to do that.”

A former batting allrounder and Ranji Trophy winner with Baroda, Arothe took over as head coach in April 2017 after the removal of Purnima Rau from the job, two months ahead of the World Cup in England. Having previously been part of the Indian women’s coaching staff between 2008 and 2012, Arothe had been initially appointed until the 2017 World Cup.

More to follow…

1430GMT The confirmation was added after the BCCI issued a press release

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