Former chief selector Hemlata Kala among five female candidates in fray for India women's cricket head coach

New Delhi: Former chief selector Hemlata Kala is among five female candidates who have applied to become the Indian women’s team’s head coach, a position that has been held by men since 2017. Mamatha Maben, Jaya Sharma, Suman Sharma and Nooshin Al Khadeer are the others who have presented their candidature for the job. Among the men, incumbent WV Raman has reapplied after his term ended with the home series loss to South Africa in March. Former coaches of the team, Ramesh Powar and Tushar Arothe, have also thrown their hat into the ring. Both Powar and Arothe were forced to leave in acrimonious circumstances after developing differences with senior players. The Madan Lal-led Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) is supposed to pick the head coach after the application deadline ended on 26 April. [caption id=“attachment_9577501” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  File image of former India cricketer and chief selector Hemlata Kala. Image credit: Twitter/@ICC[/caption] The women’s selection committee, headed by Neetu David, are inclined towards a female head coach for the national team, which has a lot of work to do before the ODI World Cup in New Zealand early next year. “We are yet to hear from the BCCI on the interview date (of candidates). When we get down to that, we will pick the best person for the job whether male or female,” World Cup-winner Lal told PTI. Purnima Rau was the last female head coach of the Indian team until she was removed in April 2017. Arothe took over from her and took the team to the ODI World Cup final later that year. Powar replaced him before making an exit in controversial circumstances when veteran Mithali Raj accused him of trying to destroy her career. Raman took over from Powar and took the team to the T20 World Cup final in 2020. Among the female candidates, Kala was chief of the selection committee which unearthed stars like Shafali Verma and recently worked with the Uttar Pradesh senior team as head coach. Suman has worked as an assistant coach with the Indian team and was also involved with the Women’s T20 Challenge alongside Maben who has also coached Bangladesh and China. Nooshin also has a substantial coaching experience. “I have been tracking women’s cricket in the country since my playing days. Coaching Railways and now UP has also helped me learn a lot more about the game. “I also gained a lot of knowledge during my tenure as selector and therefore I feel ready to step into the head coach role,” said former India international Kala.