‘Strict’ On Field, ‘Fun Character’ Off Field: Meet Amol Muzumdar, New Head Coach of India Women’s Team

The BCCI appointed former cricketer Amol Muzumdar as the head coach of the Indian women’s team and issued a statement on Wednesday evening.

“The Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Ms. Sulakshana Naik, Mr. Ashok Malhotra, and Mr. Jatin Paranjape, interviewed the shortlisted applicants for the position of Head Coach – Team India (Senior Women). After thorough and thoughtful deliberation, the three-member committee unanimously recommended Mr. Amol Muzumdar to take over the role.

“The BCCI confirms the appointment of Mr. Amol Muzumdar as the new Head Coach of Team India (Senior Women),” BCCI said in the statement.

The position had been vacant since December 2022 after Ramesh Powar was removed as part of BCCI’s “restructuring module”. Powar had been removed from the role two months ahead of the T20 World Cup in South Africa. Hrishikesh Kanitkar was handling the job in an interim capacity for a majority of the time since then.

Under Kanitkar, India played against Australia in a home T20I series in December 2022, a tri-series and the T20 World Cup in South Africa, earlier in 2023, and the Asian Games. India failed to win the T20 World Cup, but won a gold medal at the Asian Games. Former India bowler Nooshin Al Khadeer also had a short stint as the interim head coach during the white-ball tour of Bangladesh in July.

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Given charge of the women’s unit now, Amol will have his task cut out but coaches and cricketers who have seen his work from close quarter have put their weight behind the Mumbai stalwart and feel he has what it takes to instill a winning mindset into the team. Renowned cricket coach Dr. Atul Gaikwad hopes Majumdar is given a longer stint and is not removed from the position after a year or so.

“Almost every year we have a new coach irrespective of any reason. We should give a long rope to one person so that he/she gets the opportunity to understand the players. See, it takes around one year to get the exact understanding of the players and then you start demanding performance. If you appoint a coach and give him let’s say five years, give him a leader and take the team in the right direction. For any team, for me, creating a psychological safety is very, very important,” says Gaikwad.

What is required in an ideal women’s team head coach

Gaikwad adds that a coach at international level needs to be more hands on to understand the psyche and mindset of the players.

“For coaching a senior women’s team for national side or a state side, for that a coach requires a coaching qualification of more than a Level 2 or Level 3. For international level basically, a coach should have the competency of understanding the psyche and mind of the players,” says Gaikwad.

Former India cricketer Reema Malhotra, who surely knows a thing or two about what is required in a women’s team head coach, echoes similar views and feels understanding the mindset of female cricketers is of utmost importance.

“To become a women’s team coach, one should understand the women’s game first. The mentality of the female cricketers. Honestly, at that level you don’t require coaching actually, all you require is people management and how you deal with the seniors as well as the juniors especially in this particular time.

“This is a transition period where we have less number of seniors in comparison to juniors. Basically, it’s a young team and you will have to handle it with care, keeping in mind the things that have happened in the past. So, that is the learning thing,” says Malhotra.

Strict on the field, fun character off the field

While Gaikwad and Malhotra detailed what a good coach must have, several others from the cricketing fraternity affirmed why Muzumdar fits the bill. Former cricketer Gursharan Singh narrates his interactions with Majumdar and how he makes everyone around him very comfortable with constant motivation.

“I have interacted with Amol 2-3 times. The feedback I get from the kids who have played under him, they say that he is someone who motivates the players a lot. He has one-to-one interactions with the players. Apart from that he keeps the players in discipline and works on their weaknesses. The players are very comfortable around him and get to learn a lot from him. He works on the mindset of the players.

“The kind of experience he has is immense and is very helpful for the players around. He has the idea of playing in different situations. So, he is the right man for the players who can learn a lot from him. I just wish him luck and hope the women’s team which is doing well at the moment reaches new heights under him,” says Singh.

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Several players concurred with Gursharan’s observations and showered praise on Muzumdar. They talked highly about his influence on their personal careers.

“I did really well when I was playing under him. I made a mark during that time. The kind of backing and support I got from him was amazing. He is of course strict as a coach. But that’s how he is. He loves the game and is very passionate about it. He was always involved in the game and used to tell a lot of things like where can I improve. We used to get some very valuable feedbacks from him,” says Mumbai all-rounder Shams Mulani.

“Off the field, he is totally different human being. He used to talk about food, travelling. He is a very fun character that ways and is totally opposite off the field,” Mulani added.

Dhawal Kulkarni spoke on similar lines, exemplifying his stint with the Mumbai Ranji Team.

“He was brilliant in terms of performances in Mumbai cricket. When he was appointed, he was given a mandate to regroup the entire lot and make sure that old glory is brought back. To a large extent, he has succeeded in doing that. The players didn’t just start gelling together but more importantly they started performing and complimenting each other which is always been Mumbai’s tradition.

“He brought back the old culture of Mumbai cricket. There were some missing patches in between but he brought back all that approaches to the game. The performance of the boys improved like Sarfaraz (Khan), Arman Jaffer, Yashasvi (Jaiswal), everyone including the batters. Of course, he was lucky to have Ajinkya (Rahane) as the captain. That made a huge difference also in the entire action plan,” says Kulkarni.

Biju George, who has worked alongside Majumdar at the NCA, said he is very hard working and organised and also believes that he is an ideal coach for women’s team.

“I have done two camps with him. One was long time back and one was recently in NCA. We were together for a month. He was the lead coach and Subroto Banerjee, Kanwaljit Paji and myself were the other coaches there. He is very strict on the field while he is in the coaching business. But off the field, he is a great character. He sings beautifully. He is always ready to mingle and crack a joke.

“The coach should understand that he is there to play supportive role, not an authority role. When you say that it’s my way or the high way, you tend to get the things wrong,” says George.