Australia's Troy Cooley has joined the Indian women’s team as its bowling coach ahead of the tri-series in South Africa starting Thursday, which serves as preparation for the T20 World Cup from February 10 to 26. India begin their tri-series campaign against South Africa in East London. West Indies is the other team involved in the series.
The women’s team does not have a head coach right now, with batting coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar taking up greater responsibility. While the Indian cricket board (BCCI) has not made any official announcement, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur informed on Wednesday that the 57-year-old has been working with the Indian bowlers since arriving in South Africa. Harmanpreet had said just last month that they were missing the services of a bowling coach.
Cooley was appointed as fast-bowling coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru in November 2021. “Cooley is an able coach. We have trained under him at the National Cricket Academy before. He brings a lot to the team. He has been doing great work with the team since landing here in South Africa. He is very thrilled to be with the team. The bowlers are doing hard work under him,” Harmanpreet said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Harmanpreet is upbeat about India’s chances in the tri-series despite losing 1-4 to Australia at home last month. Opener Shafali Verma and wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh aren’t available for this series since they are part of the Indian team playing the inaugural U-19 World Cup in South Africa.
{{/usCountry}}Harmanpreet is upbeat about India’s chances in the tri-series despite losing 1-4 to Australia at home last month. Opener Shafali Verma and wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh aren’t available for this series since they are part of the Indian team playing the inaugural U-19 World Cup in South Africa.
{{/usCountry}}“The team is coming on well. We lost the series to Australia but the team did well. Even in Shafali and Richa’s absence, we have good players who can perform well,” she said.
The India captain was also pleased with Viacom 18 winning the media rights for the upcoming Women’s Indian Premier League (IPL) at a whopping sum of ₹951 crore for five years.
“It is a huge leap. The BCCI has done a fine job in promoting women’s cricket and getting it on such a platform. I feel lucky to be part of a generation which would be playing in the league,” she said.