The Great Coaches Podcast Episode 015
Thu, 1/28 11:29AM • 46:59
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
coach, players, cricket, captain, team, girls, game, india, world cup, ensure, fact, indian, cricketers, sport, thinking, people, play, fitness, skills, talk
SPEAKERS
Paul Barnett, WV Raman, Carrie Graf
Paul Barnett 00:01
Welcome to the great coach's podcast.
00:05
To me, being perfect is not about that scoreboard after this is a chance
00:11
you can understand the person and you can then work towards a common goal. We
00:16
are all on the same team. Now you do it to the best your ability to focus on the fundamentals. We've gone over time and time again,
00:25
has got to be better.
WV Raman 00:26
We've known
00:28
great moments are born and great
00:32
opportunity. My name is Jim Woolfrey. And you're listening to the great coach's Podcast, where we interview great sporting coaches to try and find ideas to help us all lead our teams better. Our great coach on this episode is wV Rahman, WV is a former Indian cricketer and the current coach of the Indian women's cricket team. He made his test debut for India in 1987 going on to play 11 tests and 27 One Day Internationals during his career, His most notable feat was becoming the first Indian to score a century in South Africa, which he did in 1992. He began his coaching career in 2006 with Tamil Nadu and in 2008, the side won the domestic one day tournament. He has since gone on to coach Bengal, the Indian under 19 team and as an assistant coach with the Kings 11 Punjab and the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. In 2019. He was appointed the head coach of the Indian women's team, and led them to second place in the T 20. World Cup. wv is the type of coach that can sit you down and talk you through almost any challenging situation you might face and show a genuine interest in you. He is someone who has looked inwardly and being honest with himself as a player. He talks openly about lacking guidance and that now as a coach, it is his desire to share his experiences with future players. in managing the pressures of modern cricket. He shares an insightful view into how he helped the Indian women's cricket team overcome the pressures of a World Cup by focusing the players on effort. And to do that fiercely to ensure they performed at their best. As a fan of the game of cricket. This was a real treat the great coaches podcast, the wV Rahman Good afternoon, and welcome to the great coaches podcast.
WV Raman 02:28
Good afternoon, and it's good to be here.
Paul Barnett 02:31
Can I just start with a really simple question, Where are you in the world today? And what have you been up to?
WV Raman 02:36
I am in Chennai, which is in the south east coast of India. And not only today in the preceding six months, I've been trying to stay safe. There's nothing much to do, because everybody's going through a tough time because of this pandemic. And obviously, the governing bodies and the governments have asked us to try and stay safe, which is what I've been doing. And I've stayed at home and the last six months, I'm sure that millions and millions of people across the world have done that. And they've restricted their movements, because it's a matter of necessity not only to you to be saved, but also to try and contribute towards the safety of others as well.
Paul Barnett 03:20
We're very thankful for your time today. I particularly enjoy talking all things cricket. So I'm going to enjoy this conversation a lot. And in fact, I'd like to start by winding the clock back a little if I could because in your long career, you've had exposure to some wonderful coaches, Edgewater car, of course bishan bd early on in your career and Trevor Bayliss as well. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. But I'd like to ask start by asking you what is it you think great coaches do differently,
WV Raman 03:51
did empower the players that they're handling, they try and ensure that the players become their own coaches. That is basically what a great coach will try and do because it's not all about a coach all the time instructing his wards or the players exactly, or the pins are designed Ling is got to ensure that he sort of helps the players get better, and also try and help it to help them in such a manner that they improve their skill sets within the framework of their technique within the framework of their methods[PB1] . Because there is no point in trying to clone everybody into doing the same thing again and again, each individual lifestyle, so which means that the coach has to identify what actually will suit him if he's trying to encourage him to try and do a few alterations, I won't say changes, a few adjustments rather, in fact, not in all creations because it's all about adjusting Your skills are adjusting to the conditions, which is important. Because at the top level, in any sport beyond a certain level, it's all about the mindset. It's all about the mental aspects. It's all about ensuring that the players are nuts towards going to a good zone mentally for them to be at their best when they go to perform on the field.[PB2]
Paul Barnett 05:25
I wanted to talk to you about mental skills coaching later on. But I'd like to actually just follow up that question that answer because there's a lovely quote from you that I read in preparation for today. And you say, it's a team game. And they will be encouraged, motivated and guided to play as a team. There is no such thing as seniors or juniors. And so I wanted to ask what are the values or behaviors that are really central to your coaching philosophy,
WV Raman 05:51
nobody is bigger than the team, because you will have some performing better than the rest. It's not that because the others are not trying hard enough, sometimes your best may not be enough. So the numbers will vary, some will end up having better numbers than the others in the team in a series or in a particular game, or over a period of two, three years. But the most important thing is that in a team sport like cricket, it's important for each one of them to contribute, nobody is bigger than the others and nobody is lesser than the others. It's all about all of them going towards in one particular direction, and trying to achieve or success for the team. And to me, I always have a lot of time for people who put their will put the team's interest and have their own personal interests, because that is what will eventually make a solid team.[PB3] Probably not a great fan of somebody trying to first churn out his numbers, and then see if he can do something useful to the side, it's always a question of the site coming first. And the individual always is bound and needs to ensure that he does what is required for the success of the team.
Paul Barnett 07:10
In a country like India, where hierarchy is respected and important. I imagine there would be some resistance when you first introduce that philosophy
WV Raman 07:22
existed, it does exist. In some cases, even now in this neck of the woods, not necessarily in India, you can even call the subcontinent. I've seen this happen. But the thing that happened in this part of the world is that there were a lot of foreign coaches who came into the setup, perhaps at the start of the Millenium, or prior to the Millenium ending. What that did was that it exposed everybody to various things to different perspectives. It's not that they did not want to stick to the hierarchy. It's just that there is a culture in a country. And then there is a team culture, then there's a sporting culture. So essentially, what used to happen was that the culture of the country was obviously very much a part in the setup of sports as well. But when these foreign coaches came into the setup, they brought in new perspectives. And they also tried to make everybody understand that sport is one thing, you know that you're better off without having to follow the hierarchy. And obviously, it was done. It was done in India as well. But that lucky bit of reservation is always there, for example, if a newcomer came into site, and if he had to talk to somebody who's been playing for a decade, or he's been a great performer or a period of time, they used to be that reservation, not necessarily the player who's been around for a while, wanted that kind of respect to be demonstrated. But it was just a part of them growing up in a culture where iraq existed. But gradually, what happened was that with the influx of new perspectives and new ideologies or new theories coming in from foreign coaches coming to set up whatever little existed, it's gone away. And of course, with the IPL coming into Indian cricket as well, that has given everybody a lot of exposure to once again, cricketers from other countries and also to other foreign coaches, which meant that if you are a coach who was let's say my age, around mid 50s, or close to 60, everybody would address him sir in India but once this phone call just came obviously that is something that is not our container, there's not a thing that happens normally they increase the To call them by their names or even by their nicknames, which meant that reserved was completely sort of eliminated. And now things are different. Everybody is aware of the fact that respect is not all about addressing somebody has served, it's just about having the respect genuinely within yourself and exhibiting it when required.[PB4]
Paul Barnett 10:23
I've been lucky enough in my life to visit many parts of India, and have good friends there that I know will be listening to this. And so when I say cricket is a national obsession in India, I do say that from a place of first hand experience, and I imagine that that must put a lot of pressure on players at times. And I wanted to ask you about coaching players to have a natural style to to be fluid and not overthinking the center when there is such intense competition for places and such scrutiny from the media. How do you how do you go about helping players with that,
WV Raman 11:01
it's very important for the players not to be sort of over burdened with various things that happens around there. And it is important for the coaches to try and ensure that they eliminate the various avenues of things that the players are exposed to. Prior to again, by that I mean that we try and ensure that not many things are spoken or not many things are told to them. Leading up to a game is important for a player to be caring as little as possible. In other words, a player has to be as empty headed as possible, he cannot have too many things going on in his head. So that is what we try and do. So my style has been that I always tell the captain that until the 48 hours prior to the game, I'll be sort of more active, I'll be seeing a lot of things to the place if required. But from the time that we got to get into a gay, which is 14 hours before the start of the game is all yours. You are the you're the person who's handling the players, you are the person who will be saying what needs to be said, it's all your ship, and you're the captain and the team from then on 48 hours leading up to the game is going to be handed over to you and I will be staying in the backdrop[PB5] .
Paul Barnett 12:32
Well, you're actually very lucky because you've got an amazing Captain mithali Raj. She's known for her work ethic of fitness and leadership. I've seen footage of her talking, she's very articulate. And I guess in cricket, the role of the captain is also important because they lead on the ground. I mean, you can't be there. And the other one who, as you just said is the captain of the ship. But what advice do you have for other coaches on choosing the right captain?
WV Raman 12:59
See, it's very difficult. It's not like football, where the coach gets to pick everything. There's a selection committee involved in cricket, which means you got to work in conjunction with them. And a coach gets invited. That's how the system works is not that the coach ultimately gets everything that he or she wants in the team. By that, I mean that the selection committee will obviously decide on who's going to be the captain, yes, they will have a discussion with the coach. But they are very well within their limits to overrule the coach and say yes, this is who's going to be the captain. At the same time, it also becomes a little bit of a tricky situation for a coach to tip his hand and say, you know, I want access to Captain because in the event the selection committee nominates why as Captain, then this will be a little bit of a false start in a way. If you know what I mean. The coach cannot expressly say that he has a particular choice for leading the site. A coach has to try and point out the various pros and cons. Also try and talk about the strengths and weaknesses of each individual and what he thinks of each individual as a captain or a probable captain, what they can bring to the table, how they can take the team forward. But at the end of the day, it's always better not to really make a specific choice because it can get a little bit tricky. That way what happens is that the coach also will not be pre determined if he does not have the person who you would want to be the captain as captain. If there's going to be a different choice from the selectors then obviously the coach has also got to once again you know change his vote for Start thinking in a different way, try and find out how the other person is thinking, because players are very sensitive, and rightly so, if they get to know that, let's say for example, if a player is nominated as Captain, and if Obviously, these things do come out, and if he gets to know, he or she gets to know, the cause did not want to as Captain, that's not a great start. So my personal view is that the coach was fine when we gave his views and leave it to the selection committee. And once the selection committee designed, the coach has to start working with the captain, war workers. And that way it works best.[PB6]
Paul Barnett 15:43
You've had some great experiences as a head coach, even though you said you're in your mid 50s. But you've been coaching for a long time, Tamil Nadu Bengal in the Raj in the ranji. trophy, you had the Indian mains under 19. Team, you've worked as an assistant coach with the IPL. And of course, now you've got the Indian women's cricket team. I'd like to ask you, when you first move into a new team, as the head coach, what are the first things that you do?
WV Raman 16:11
I don't ask the players as to what it is they want me to do, what is it that they expect of me? And what is it that they want me to bring into the team? Because it is very important to know, what is it the players want to do? Where is it that they want to go? And if after this discussion, if I feel that, you know, maybe there are a few things that I need to try and suggest to these guys, and then arrive at perhaps a middle path where all of us agree on something and say, okay, right, you have your views, I've had my views. So let's see if we can collectively put all of us together and see and see what are all the best possible ways we can take the team forward. And the other thing that I also try and do is that is to tell them that it's all about us working together all the time. If you have a bad game, no single individual is responsible. If we win, it's we win. If we lose, we lose. There is no question No, I, that will be spoken about too much in this dressing room, at least under my tenure with the team. It's always a case re and the other thing that also make it very clear is to tell the players, whatever the issues are, it's got to be ironed out within that particular group. It's It makes no sense to take it to somebody and bring some arbitration from outside. Because after all, we spend a lot of time together, it's always best that we sort it out. And everybody must have that confidence to be open about what it is that they want to say in this particular dressing room. And each of them and all of them are free to express their views without having any fear of that might coming into play later on when it comes to their selection. So that kind of courage, I gave them that kind of culture, I insist, where and if they are of the view that I'm not doing certain things, right, they are welcome to tell me because it's no guarantee for every person to be doing everything right all the time. And hence, it's very critical that even the players constantly give a feedback to the coach as to what exactly is doing right what exactly you can do better in as much as a coach just to the players. So once you get this kind of an atmosphere going, then everything you know will fall in place.[PB7] The team will not be you know having to spend time on sorting out issues all the time, they'd rather focus on the game and then get on with it and do as well as they can. It's only when people are uncertain about their views being heard or not being heard or whether there'll be a little bit of vindictiveness if they come out openly, and say a few things that may sound harsh, because at times truth can be very harsh. So I encourage them to talk freely whatever it is because at the end of the day, there is no point in having something up in the air or you know, creating an atmosphere where a lot of undercurrents were developing within the dressing room. It doesn't help anybody and no matter how talented the team is how many talented and accomplished cricketers Having a team, if this particular aspect is not clear, if it is not sorted out, if it is not really sort of conveyed to them, that team is really not going to perform as well as they can.
Paul Barnett 20:14
I know when you took over in early 2019, there was talk of some issues like that it's not actually what I wanted to dive into. But I know that you were able to orientate this team and deliver a great result. Well, actually, you second, I don't know whether you consider that great, but it was definitely a result. That was a big improvement from where the team had been going in the T 20. World Cup. So clearly, some some elements of what you talked about worked. But what I would like to do is just go back if I could and ask, when you took over that team? What were the things that you agreed on? What What were the big things that you and that team said, here's what we're going to do to drive our performance foot forward,
WV Raman 20:57
I took my time to find out what exactly they were not doing right. And whether it was for lack of effort, or whether we did not have the resources that we are looking at to go in the direction that we want it to go. It took me about perhaps three to four months to understand what exactly was going on in women's Cricket in India. Because regardless of the fact that I've been involved in coaching from 2000 onwards, I had not really followed woman's cricket, even a little bit to be honest. And the fact that it is slightly different when it comes to women's cricket, because in terms of experience, they are not as experienced as let's say 19 year old boy, because what happens is, in in the boys cricket, they start at 14, they play the under 16 levels, they played under 19. And which means that they've been playing representative cricket for about competitive cricket for about five years. That is a lot of experience. And these girls didn't have what you strap on was that they would have under 19 level. And if they did well, and they did have a senior domestic tournament. If they did well enough at the right time, they will be catapulted into the international side. And it's a huge gap from underwriting levels to international cricket. So it took me time to find out what exactly was
WV Raman 22:36
there? And what are the things that were not there. And what I did was after taking some time, I had a chat with the girls. And we agreed on the fact that they needed to work on their fitness. And we agreed on the fact that they needed to work hard, almost like there is no tomorrow because what was happening was that they were talented, but they did not realize the importance of making every practice session count. This is due to various reasons it is not therefore, mind you, these girls are very diligent, they have terrific attitude, they really work hard. And the other thing that we agreed upon was that they needed to improve on the skills as well. Because there's a lot of talk about these girls, were not mentally tough enough. So I was off the view when I took over the team. And when they had a few bad results for staff in the T 24. Or at least against the English girls. I said it's not just about them not being mentally tough. It's just about the fact that they need to improve upon their skills. It's like, you know, they know tactics, but the point was that everybody was saying, you know, tactically they are very poor. Mentally, they are not tough enough. I said unless you have the wherewithal unless you have the skills, where are you going to adopt the tactics? Let's let's be very clear on one thing, my point was that the girls knew what they had to do tactically. But it's just that the lack of skills that was required to do consistently at that level, and to be improved upon. So I said if they develop on their skills, I'm sure they'll execute the tactics far better. Then obviously everybody are going to say they're mentally tough to go Don't go by reserves. See what is there what is not there and start from the basics. And then let's go step by step.[PB8] And the girls are greedy. So we if we look at players from the other side, so we ourselves realize that we are not strong enough and we Also, you know, I could develop a lot more skills, you know, to do consistently well at international level. And over the next period of six months, that is, later half of 19, we had a couple of dedicated fitness camps for a period of three to four weeks, which helped the girls a lot. And after they went through those scans and continued doing based on the individual program given by the trainer, they themselves realized how much of them the cricket, the results were, therefore, the place to see themselves, let alone me and the rest of the people, are they then they got motivated enough to say, yes, let's have another cancer, when are we having the next fitness camp. And that is how we know the progress. And due credit should be given to the girls, you know, for really going through the tough phases we put them through during the fitness games, and we did not set any numbers as targets for them to achieve in terms of fitness. Because that can be a little bit skewered. Because people if I set a number, for example, some may be there, almost others may not be close enough. So it's gonna be a case of these people are close to the number that I said, they are going to be just, you know, doing things in the canter they're not going to improve. So what I did was I told the girls, after consulting the train, I said, you set a target every three months, we'll have a test. And every test, I would like you guys to improve by about 20% from your previous numbers, which meant they are competing with themselves, they're not trying to achieve a target. So when somebody is trying to sort of better, the motivation is very powerful. And they're done fantastically well. Unfortunately, you know, when they're just about, you know, really going up to the next levels, everything Shut up. But I saw the gods will bounce back strongly.
Paul Barnett 27:16
I read that one of the other changes you brought in at the time was to try and create, you know, a mindset with the players batted with that inhibition and this fear of getting out. And I wanted to ask, how do you coach for that? What do you do to try and unlock that within someone?
WV Raman 27:35
I used to tell them in jest I used to tell them listen, listen, guys, there are two things that will always be losing in life. It's just a question of ensuring that you don't lose it too often and you don't lose it too much. So they asked me what are the two things I said money and wickets on the cricket field. Money is not losing you will keep spending it so we get you will lose it on a cricket ground is just a question of how much can you delay. But again, the point is not about delaying because in a shorter format, you can't be looking at preserving a weekend. So when I say you will bound to lose it sometime either you need to spend the advocate in trying to wrap up the run rate that is spending your money and because you need to spend, there's no poor options for anybody. So I said don't worry about getting out. It's just a question of backing yourself. Just go and play. And anyway, you're playing a format, which is all about being on the offensive all the time. You can't take your time because you don't play Test cricket, you don't have that luxury of taking time. But it's within the frame of a shorter format. Yes, it's not about going out there taking a guard and going bang bang and football one. Yes, you can take a couple of deliveries, three deliveries fine. But you need to ensure that like your money, you need to you know also spend your weekend or spend your time at the crease sensibly. And once they develop their skills and once they were told Yes, it doesn't matter if you get out.[PB9] I also told them Another thing I'd rather see all you girls playing a shot and getting out while playing a shot as against no struggling and trying to get out playing or nothing sharp. I don't want soft dismissals die by the sword doesn't matter. But I don't want a meek surrender on the field. And the girls obviously, you know, were very happy about it. And they decided to sort of step on the gas. They worked at it diligently themselves even when we did not have camps and that was fantastic. The other thing is that these girls are young and they need to be encouraged. They need to be sort of molded in such a manner That, you know, they don't really are sort of feeling the anxiety about what it is that they have to do on the field. Now, for example, a bumblebee I've read somewhere aerodynamically is not suited to fly. But it flies because nobody told it not to fly. Similarly, only if I or any other coach keeps on talking about Oh, you might get out if you do this. And then you're ready now, sort of protein vegetable, which is in the fridge into a freezer. That's the kind of thing that they're doing in a way. So you need to try and get them out of that bubble and say, okay, it doesn't matter. You're not going to succeed all the time. But in trying to be aggressive, you might put others under pressure in the process inside, which will allow you to succeed far more than you are doing at the moment. So they needed to be shown the other side of the spectrum[PB10]
Paul Barnett 31:00
and think about it, WV, you're an accomplished writer, you have a book out, which is flying to me as we speak. I've read some of your columns. You're very articulate, very erudite. And I thought you used this skill to wonderful effect during the 20 World Cup, when you said, quote, The other thing I did right through the six and a half weeks was never out of the two words, World Cup. I was only fearing referring to that as the tournament, because the World Cup it can get to you. And so I wanted to ask, are there any other words or mottos that are central to your coaching philosophy,
WV Raman 31:40
I only told the girls a couple of things when we landed in Australia, I told them that we are here to play two tournaments. And we are here to come and show what we are capable of doing. We are not here to look at results, play 10 matches and win all the 10 or win five games in five games, seven games, whatever is possible, we are not going to set any targets in terms of winning, I said we are here to play good cricket, we are here to put a give a good account of ourselves. And we are going to take the other teams on because there are tough sides. Because in the try series we had England and Australia. They're very good sites. And those sites have been doing extraordinarily well in the last few years. So I said you are going to show them what you're capable of doing. And you got to make them think as to what suddenly is gotten into Indian girls, that suddenly things are different. So that is what your mission is. And other things. In order to do that all I want you to focus is on just doing the best that you can, you will be your own judge, if you go back to the room after game. And if you got your head on your pillow, thinking about the game, if you can tell yourself, Yes, I did. Whatever that was possible that I could do. I did. It didn't work out in case we ever reverse. I didn't work on that night sleep peacefully, no problem. But if at all, it occurred to you, oh, I did not do this as well as I could. If you get tired of coming to the forefront when you're thinking of the game, then that's a problem you shouldn't be sleeping that night. Not that because we lost the game is just that because you did not give the best that you could. So go by the effort. And if all of you stick to this, I'm sure you will realize there's a far better way of ensuring that you will be at your best most of the time. Because looking to give an effort is something that is not going to put you under pressure as against telling yourself as I'm going to score a strike rate of 140 or the bowlers thinking that they're going to concede just six runs per over. Those numbers will put you under a lot of pressure that will really sort of make you freeze at times when the pressure is really intense out in the middle. But tell yourself, I'm going to do what there is that in me to the best of my ability and go and do fearlessly if you do that and come back. I don't care.[PB11]
Paul Barnett 34:41
You are a psychologist, an amateur psychologist, a tactician, a skills coach or trainer. But what is it you enjoy most about coaching?
WV Raman 34:51
The opportunity that you get to make a difference to somebody else. I think that's an opportunity. Not many People get everybody is out, trusting you everybody is looking up to you to make a difference to be a positive influence in their lives or in their cricket. And I think that, I think is a great privilege. There is nothing that can beat this. [PB12] Yes, I could have done a lot of other things. In fact, I did as well before I ventured full time into coaching, interestingly enough, in one of my recent chats with Raul, Robert, on the YouTube and also on the podcast, he also said the same thing. Yes, I also tried out a lot of things and got into coaching. Because here you can make a lot of difference. You can guide the instance, and stuff rather. And that's exactly why I went into coaching full time. And I, I think I'm blessed about the fact that our tremendous opportunity to try and be a positive influence in somebody's life. It's not just a cricket. I don't stick just myself to you know, sort of helping them with a cricket. I also talked to them about various other things, which is going to be in my view, at least of great help to them. I'm sure they do talk and do continue our conversations outside of cricket as well, because they feel Aveda, it's really proving to be a relaxation for them over this proving to be beneficial. I've not found out from there. But if they didn't really sort of dig it. I think they've given enough courage to say, okay, there's not happening web, let's talk to stick to credit. I'm sure there are told me, the very fact that conversation means that they do think that they're gaining some value.
Paul Barnett 36:57
You've been coaching for 20 years, and you've had a good successful career as you played for your country. And by Test matches. And one day internationals, you scored the first Indian to score a century in South Africa. But was there a moment or a person or an event that led you to really have this desire to coach?
WV Raman 37:16
It's very interesting that you asked me this question, because during my career, I saw a lot of talented guys will could not really sort of perform to the level of talent that everybody saw in them. Even in my case, there were a lot of things I lacked guidance in, during my playing days. I think maybe that was subconsciously always lingering in my mind. So I also took up coaching, for the simple reason that perhaps was a reflection of the fact that we didn't have enough guidance when we are playing. That was probably knowing me, without me realizing it. Maybe that is one of the reasons why I took up coaching up with the notion that I would try and guide this talented cricketers of the next generation, or of the future, to optimize their potential. It's not always about a really successful person telling things or guiding people of the next generation. There are a lot of things that we went through. And we can impart, or we can point out the likely pitfalls that they're likely to encounter. I thought that was one of the primary reasons that I went into coaching just to ensure that at least I would have the satisfaction of telling myself Yes, I did try and see that I could help them. I helped them a bit. It was for my satisfaction to start off with. And it's also very important that whatever knowledge that you have gathered in your life, that you share it, because there's no point in not sharing it, it could be of help to somebody you don't know and in in coaching others I have learnt a lot as well. So which means knowledge is something that needs to be flowing constantly. It cannot be stopped for any reason whatsoever. It needs to be exchanged. It needs to be shared, it needs to be imbibed. So this is something that needs to be done constantly.[PB13]
Paul Barnett 39:51
You talk a lot in interviews I see about your thirst for knowledge. I know that you follow tennis Snoop affiliates you read and in your writing, you also reference other sports as well. And I was interested in this time that we have been locked down, or we have not been as free to move as much as we normally would. Has there been any books, resources, TV shows, websites, anything that's really caught your imagination and helped you as a coach.
WV Raman 40:21
I picked up various books, which I've read, in fact, and went through the particular paragraphs or sentences that I found, was very stimulating. I did that for a while. And then I found other ways of trying to keep myself occupied, I did an online show. And then I was engaged in chatting to the other coaches within the system online. But if you asked me specifically, what is it that I did? I can't give you an answer, because it was a case of going through each day, you know, step by step, because everything was so uncertain, you couldn't plan anything, you couldn't go anywhere, it was challenging, in many ways. So you had to I at least, thought of going through that phase, one day at a time, whatever it was, to keep me occupied, or to at least to distract me. And I also have watched a television show very regularly, which I never did before this lockdown, and the country is staying at home, which you would find very surprising. The show was about forging knives. No, on the History Channel, it was about forging knives. So you'll have all the blade Smith's coming in, they're given a time frame of three hours. And they would be given home late things to try and shape out a knife to start off with. And then the next three hours make to finish the knife, the angles, then those knives will be subjected to some atrocious tests to decide on the winner. It was very interesting, because very challenging, it is something I thought was very stimulating and very different. Watching them go through those anxious moments. And the way they did not get that planning right or not get the implementation, as well as the light would have liked to was very interesting. And trust me, if somebody were to tell me, you know, even sat and watch that program for 10 minutes before all this out. I probably had a laugh. But for lack of anything is to do. I sat in force this one episode, full episode. And then I said, Okay, this is interesting. Let me watch this, because there are quite a few things that you can learn. Yeah,
Paul Barnett 43:13
we live in such a digital world that I think engaging with analog activities is such a pleasure. So I will be checking that show for sure. Web if I could just take a few more minutes to ask one final question. And I hesitated a little bit to ask it because I think you've got a long way still to go with your with your coaching and many more challenges ahead of you. And I'm sure a lot more success as well. If I was to ask you to pause at this point, and look back on your 20 plus years in coaching, what do you think is the legacy that you've left so far?
WV Raman 43:52
off for being very fair, being very impartial, of always being very interested in others genuinely interested in the others and wanting to desperately help them become better?[PB14]
Paul Barnett 44:09
Wha that is a wonderful way to finish. desperately wanting them to be better. I'd like to thank you for your time today. It's been a wonderful conversation. Good luck for the season ahead. I hope that you get to the final of the the World Cup that's coming up and you lose to Australia.
WV Raman 44:26
That's what won me on the show. I hope I enjoyed the chat. And life is such that nothing is always consistent and past. Past results are no guarantees in the future.
Paul Barnett 44:42
Thank you WP, the great coaches podcast. Hi, everyone. It's Paul here. You have been listening to our discussion with wV Raman, the coach of the Indian women's cricket team. The key highlights for me were the calm and measured way he goes about practice. His teams, and the fact that 48 hours before the game, he steps back and leaves the final preparation to the captain had the arrival of foreign coaches in the year 2000. Change the hierarchy dynamic within Indian teams, and paved the way for a more egalitarian culture within the team, his view on money and wickets as being alike, and how you must spend your weekend appropriately given the format of the game. I hope you enjoyed it as much as Jim and I did. In our next episode, we will be speaking to former basketball coach, professor and now director of sport at the University of camera, Carrie Graf,
Carrie Graf 45:39
from young age that if young girls are assertive or confident or any of those traits that are traditionally seen as positive leadership traits that young girls exhibit those they're told they're bossy or they're rude or, but when a young boy does exactly that it uses the same language and uses the same body language people pat them on the back and said Megan, you're a great leader Good job. And I think that doesn't set our young girls up for the successes, future leaders in their, in their adult lives. And it's, it's wrong. It's a gender bias that we you know, we're overlaying how women should behave, or how girls should behave that you know, leaders that's that's a leadership quality, you know, to be to be assertive, not arrogant, not not overly confident, but to use your voice assertively in any sport in particular, to communicate in sport. It has to be assertive, it has to be commanding, it has to be short and sharp, there isn't time. Adjust
Paul Barnett 46:33
before we go. coaches are not usually the type of people who seek the spotlight. And so if you can put us in contact with a great coach that you know has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you. You can contact us using the details in the show notes.