Former Indian cricketer Ramesh Powar has now been named as the head coach the Indian women’s team as was already playing the duty of the interim coach and now he has given an extension as the coach till women’s T20 World Cup 2018. He was brought in as the interim coach of the team last month after the resignation of Tushar Arothe.

Under Powar, the Indian women cricketers underwent a camp at National Cricket Academy (NCA). The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also invited applications for the post of head coach of the team at the same time. The former off-spinner was also one of the applicants and in the end, he was handed the job.

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A report in The Hindu had suggested that BCCI had shortlisted a total of six candidates for the post, with Powar also being the one. However, the board decided to give an extension to him after the role of Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) wasn’t clear in the appointment process. Interestingly, Rajkumar Sharma, childhood coach of Indian skipper Virat Kohli, was also one of the shortlisted candidates for the job.

Tushar Arothe had quit the job last month due to personal reasons. Powar is the third coach of women’s team in past one and a half year. Prior to Arothe, the post was held by Purnima Rau, who was removed just a few months ahead of the women’s World Cup in 2017.

The upcoming tour of Sri Lanka will be the first assignment for Ramesh Powar as the coach. Meanwhile, the T20 World Cup, meanwhile, will be played in West Indies from November 9. India is scheduled to face New Zealand, Pakistan, Australia and one of the qualifying teams in the league stage. Powar, the newly appointed coach, was one of the strongest candidates to be appointed as the head coach of Mumbai Ranji trophy team. Had he been appointed in that role, he wouldn’t be appointed as the coach of the women’s team.