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[caption id="attachment_50705" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Women's team coach Tushar Arothe with skipper Mithali Raj. Image Source: twitter[/caption] Sabyasachi Bagchi, Kolkata: Yes, he too is a coach of the Indian team but not of Virat Kolhi or Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Yes, he too is the national coach but was never recognized like Anil Kumble or Ravi Shastri. Silently working with his team, this man is just a foot away from winning the World Cup for his nation. A former cricketer and captain of Baroda with a 100+ Ranji games and 51 List A games under his name, this man has guided India to the finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup. He is Tushar Arothe. India has played 8 matches in the World Cup so far including the semis against Australia. India began their journey in a grand manner with 4 back to back victories against England by 35 runs, West Indies by 7 wickets, Pakistan by 95 runs and Sri Lanka by 116 runs. However the side also suffered two back to back defeats at the hands of South Africa by 115 runs and against Australia by 8 wickets thereby making the match against New Zealand a virtual quarter finals which the women in blues won by 186 runs. In an exclusive interview with www.xtratime.in correspondent Sabyasachi Bagchi, the coach of the Indian Women’s team Tushar Arothe while travelling from Derby to London, shared his thoughts. XT: Describe your journey of getting the job 2 months before the tournament and now taking the side to the all important finals. Arothe: I was the Assistant coach and fielding coach of the side from 2008 till 2012, so working with the players again is not a tough job. Tough I got the job 2 months before the grand tournament I didn’t face any difficulties as the previous coach Purnima Rao diligently did her work. I took the job as a challenge. XT: What message was given to the girls from your side before heading to England? Arothe: When we had our conditioning camp in Bombay I called for a team meeting. In our team meetings not only seniors but also juniors can voice out their opinions. I asked the girls only one thing to the girls asking the reason to go to England, to which the girls cried out in unison that they are going to lift the trophy. I was quite assured on the reply and also made it certain that we are not going to only participate in tournament. I was satisfied with the answer and told them they need to perform accordingly. XT: What are the improvements that are required by the side? Arothe: In professional sports, there is no limit for improvement. But I think it is unwise to dissect the mistakes at this point of time. We should advise them to remain calm and focus about the upcoming game. We have to keep in mind that it was these girls in Blue who won the games on the field not me or you. The girls know there job and as a result they put up a splendid performance against Australia who were the defending champions. I am quite certain that girls will not let this golden opportunity pass away. XT: Few years back hardly anyone cared about Women’s cricket. What miracle resulted in people taking interest in women’s cricket? Arothe: The work done by BCCI is highly appreciable. The board is quite serious about Women’s cricket and the result is now in front of us. XT: There are two senior players in the team, Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj. How much inspirational are these two women for the team? Arothe: Both of them are highly inspirational for the juniors. Though Mithali is the skipper I would like to point at Jhulan. She is the senior most member of the squad and in previous term she was the skipper of her side. I have seen that her influence in the team is huge. Every junior looks up to her and seeks her support in times of problem. Even the current skipper Mithali seeks advice from her when she faces any difficulties both on and off the field. There is no ego among any players in our team which credits to the success of the team. This would probably be the last World Cup for Jhulan and I think that it would be a perfect farewell for her if she lifts the cup. XT: BCCI made a rule for playing women in the Big Bash League. How effective is this rule? Arothe: The team has gained a lot from this. The Australian league is highly modern and the players hugely benefit for it. Harmanpreet Kaur who played in the Big Bash gained a lot of confidence in her game. XT: What is the current condition of Harmanpreet Kaur. She hurt herself while batting and didn’t field for her side. Arothe: She is completely fit. Her injury was not serious. We will practice tomorrow and she is all fit to play the finals. XT: Do you think the South Africa tour victory in which Jhulan achieved the world feat changed the mindset of the team? Arothe: Why point out the South African tour? Last year we defeated Pakistan in finals of the Asian Cup at Bangkok, we won the bilateral series against New Zealand in our home, and we played extremely well in the qualifiers of the World Cup, where we were able to register a victory in a nearly lost match. And these happened when Purnima Rao was in-charge. The World Cup tour has been a continuation of all the successful series which we played earlier. XT: You have played a lot of games for your state but were unable to play for the country. But you still have a chance to win the World Cup without playing a single game for the country. Arothe: It is a first opportunity for the entire unit of our team to win a World Cup. I haven’t played a single game, but for the cricketers who played so many games have never reached a World Cup final before. So it’s a big opportunity for all of us and we are waiting to lift the trophy. I have advised the girls to remain calm. Not to think it as a final but to treat the game as a normal game of cricket. We defeated England in our very first game but all that is history now and our aim is to beat them in the final and take the cup home.