New Delhi, May 18

Former India opener Shiv Sunder Das has been appointed the batting coach of the Indian women’s cricket team for the tour of England. Das, who played 23 Tests and four ODIs in the early 2000s, said he is looking forward to guiding the women’s team. “It will be good experience and I am looking forward to it,” the 43-year-old former Odisha captain said.

Das has honed his skills as a batting coach at the National Cricket Academy under Rahul Dravid’s guidance and that, he believes, will help him in solving the technical problems of the batters.

Dravid connection

“I have been part of NCA for last four-five years and have been batting coach for last couple of years. I would like to thank Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly for giving me this opportunity,” said Das, who played all his international cricket under the BCCI president’s captaincy.

“I don’t think there is a lot of difference and at the end of the day, you impart your knowledge, and work with players,” Das said about coaching a women’s team. “You contribute to their success and be ready to solve their cricketing issues when they require you. My responsibility is to make them well prepared and match ready.”

Das was part of the Indian team that toured England under Ganguly in 2002 and scored 250 runs in a First-Class tour game. “That was my highest score in England on that tour,” he recalled.

Das believes that his experience of having played years of league cricket in England will also prove helpful. “It will help that I have played a lot of cricket in England, including international and league cricket. I know the conditions and those experiences I will share with them,” Das said.

The team will be playing a Test match after a long time but the new batting coach is confident that with senior pros like Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami in the side, adapting to different conditions won’t be very difficult.

“Jhulan and Mithali have played a lot of international cricket and they will easily adjust to it and it is a good time for young players as it gives opportunity to learn the art of building an innings or bowl a lot of overs, which is good for overall growth as a cricketer,” Das said. — PTI