A motivational interview by the India women's cricket coach
An excerpt from an interview with the Lady Head Coach (LHC) of the India Women's Cricket Team by a Sports Editor (SE) of a reputed sports magazine. It is as follows:SE: Good Morning
LHC: Very Good Morning
Q 1. SE: After an illustrious career as a cricketer, you decided to apply for the post of Head Coach for the Women's National Cricket Team and got the job. Why so? Is it a passion for cricket or to remain active?
Ans. LHC: I would say both, but there is another angle to it. I always love and respect a teacher who works hard to guide the next generation and contribute to shaping the future. I am in sports, and coaching young players is equivalent to a teacher's task, so donning the hat of a coach has made me a teacher. As a player, I enjoyed the limelight, which was undoubtedly very special. Well, guiding the young cricketers with all my experiences is more satisfying because it's an opportunity to extend my knowledge to the upcoming cricketers to build some great future cricketers for the country. Giving some tips to the young players at some point is fine, but training hard with a team regularly brings out unique possibilities to improve each player's skills and work as a unit.
Q2. SE: Your profile says you were great at batting but never bowled, so don't you face difficulty guiding the bowlers?
Ans. LHC: Honestly speaking, I find no difficulty in guiding the bowlers. Being a cricketer, I trained in every cricketing skill but prioritised batting because of my love for it. Next, the team has a batting and a bowling coach separately. My experience as a player helps me question the individual coaches to come up with some great ideas. It benefits the batting squad to learn how to face the challenges of the opponent bowlers, while the bowling squad learns to become a threat to the opposite team.
Q3. SE: The last question I have is: where do you see the Indian Women's Cricket team in the future?
Ans. LHC: (Smiling) India's Women Cricketers have achieved the first position in the ICC world ranking of the One Day Internationals and T20I in 2024, an achievement par excellence. Thus, the next destination is to become the topper among the Women's Test-playing countries. Australia is at the top, and India is the second-best team. I wish to topple the chart and put India at the top.
SE: Thank you very much for giving this interview. It was thoroughly inspiring.
LHC: Thank you so much.
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