New Delhi: Former India cricketer Woorkeri Venkat Raman (WV Raman) was the second candidate to be interviewed for the position of head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team alongside former India opener Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday, June 18. Both former players were interviewed by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjape and Sulakshana Naik.
WV Raman has emerged as Gambhir’s closest rival for the top post contrary to initial reports which suggested that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) was the only shortlisted candidate to be interviewed. Gambhir was expected to be appointed unopposed but as per reports, another overseas name is likely to be interviewed by the CAC on Wednesday.
Like Gambhir, Raman a left-arm batter, is also a former India opener. However, unlike Gambhir, he comes with some professional coaching experience behind his back. Gambhir has only served as a mentor for two teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but has never held the post of head coach before. Raman, on the other hand, has coached the Indian women’s cricket team in the past.
Who is WV Raman?
Raman is a former India batter, who made his international debut in January 1988. A technically solid and skilful batter, Raman played 11 Tests and 27 ODIs for India in his brief international career. He also played for Tamil Nadu in the domestic circuit. Raman played 132 first-class matches and 87 List-A matches in his career, amassing 7939, 2892 runs respectively.
WV Raman’s coaching experience
Raman has a plethora of experience as a coach and has had numerous stints in the Indian domestic circuit, the IPL and international cricket. He began his coaching career post-retirement when he was appointed as the head coach of Tamil Nadu in 2006.
He signed a contract for two years before getting an extension for another two years. Tamil Nadu won the Vijay Hazare trophy under his guidance in the 2008-09 edition. He replaced Roger Binny as the head coach of Bengal in 2010 before joining Punjab Kings as their assistant coach in IPL 2013.
Kolkata Knight Riders roped in Raman as their batting coach in IPL 2024 where he interestingly worked alongside Gambhir, who was then the captain of the franchise. KKR won their second IPL trophy in 2014 before Raman returned to coach Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket. He was appointed as the head coach of the Indian women’s national cricket team in 2018/
Raman replaced former India spinner Ramesh Pawar as the head coach of the Indian women’s team following a fallout between him and former India captain Mithali Raj. Under his tutelage, Raman guided the Indian women’s team to the final of the T20 World Cup in 2020. Raman has also worked as a batting coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
An astute reader of the game and an accomplished coach, Raman’s presentation was reportedly very detailed compared to Gambhir’s and left the CAC panel impressed during the interview on Tuesday. However, it’s highly unlikely that he will be able to topple the KKR mentor for the India head coach post.
WV Raman was interviewed for the position of the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team by CAC on Tuesday. Here is all you need to know about Raman, who has emerged as Gambhir’s rival for the top post. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
