CHENNAI: WV Raman’s tenure as India women’s coach has got off to a decent start. First up was a tough tour of New Zealand and the team won the ODI series convincingly before coming second best in the T20s. Not bad, considering that the former India opener had taken charge just weeks before the trip, following a controversy involving the former coach and senior players.

Raman is happy to note positives from the way team performed in general. He feels they showed fighting spirit, which makes him confident that they would do well in future. He expects the team to carry the momentum into the series against England starting on February 22. Excerpts from an interaction...

What are the positives to have come out of the New Zealand tour?

The girls did extremely well despite the challenges they encountered. The biggest positive was the way they competed against a well-settled unit of the White Ferns. Given the fact that this is a relatively inexperienced side, the way they played deserves appreciation.

It was a mixed bag. What went wrong in the T20s?

In the ODIs there is a chance of coming back if you slide in a small portion of play, but in a  
T20 that is not possible. Moreover, in a three-game series, it is important to get your nose ahead. Unfortunately, a collapse while being way ahead in the first game didn’t help our cause. But in the next two games they hung in and fought hard. Perhaps with a little bit of luck, we might have won the T20 series too. Let’s not forget that they beat the No 2 team in the ODIs convincingly.

What was the highlight of the ODI series?

The spinners did an extraordinary job and we also had the services of the experienced Jhulan Goswami, who used the surfaces well to extract bounce and get crucial wickets. Our batters had the chance to build their innings as they are dependent on skills and short on power, an attribute that will be very handy in the T20 format.

Lessons from the T20 series defeat?

The girls will have realised that it is critical to be relentless as the chances of making a comeback is minimal in this format. Additionally, they will need to work on becoming stronger and fitter, which obviously will take time.

How different was managing a women’s team after having worked for years with men’s teams?

It is all about understanding the dynamics of women’s cricket and their outlook. Otherwise,   with cricket being the denominator, there are not many issues. 

Who were the star performers and why?

Smriti (Mandhana) was easily the star on the batting front who was supported well by the others. She has the ability to score at a brisk pace without having to manufacture shots. The bowlers have very little margin of error when they bowl to her as she is quick to pounce on anything that is off length or line.

Sometime back, players (Harmanpreet Kaur, Mithali Raj) fought openly. Are they friends now?

The fixation of focussing on a stray incident and the propensity to create a spin and keep it  
going is something that I am not prepared to discuss. England is a quality side and we need to forget the success in New Zealand and start afresh in the coming days.