Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs have made it on to the shortlist for the position of the next India Women’s head coach, according to ESPNcricinfo.

Following the BCCI’s (the board of control for cricket in India) decision to not renew Powar’s contract as the interim head coach – that expired on November 30 – plenty of well-established, and highly-regarded local and international coaches have thrown their names in the hat for the vacant position.

The shortlist consists of 10 names that were whittled down from an initial 28 candidates. The international options include Kirsten, Gibbs, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Brad Hogg and Trent Johnston, while the Indian contingent consists of Powar, Venkatesh Prasad, Manoj Prabhakar and WV Raman.

Former India off-spinner Powar held the position for three months during the buildup to and duration of the ICC Women’s World T20 that took place in the West Indies, but his public spat with senior player and ODI captain Mithali Raj, following their eight-wicket loss to England in the semi-finals have many doubting whether he will be awarded the position again.

Kirsten, on the other hand, had a successful spell coaching the India men’s team, which should weight heavily in his favour. The former Proteas opening batter was praised for his exceptional man-management skills in a team full of superstars after leading the India men to the No 1 ranking in Test cricket, as well as guiding the team to a long-awaited second ODI World Cup in 2011 after a 28-year gap – having first won it with the Kapil Dev’s legendary Indian team in 1983.

As the current coach for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, it is yet to be seen if Kirsten will be able to continue in that role if selected as the India women’s head coach.

Coincidentally, Kapil Dev is part of a three-person committee (alongside Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy) that will be interviewing the shortlisted candidates at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on December 20.

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