Bangladesh’s women cricket team’s Indian coach Anju Jain has only been in charge of the Tigresses for just three weeks and in these three weeks, the fortunes have turned in favour of the Bangladesh women’s team after a harsh South Africa tour.
The Indian media showered her with praises as Times of India ran the headline ‘The Indian hand in Bangladesh’s success’ as reported in local English daily Star on Tuesday.
Following Bangladesh’s 5-0 defeat in South Africa, Anju took charge of the team on May 21 and talking to the Times of India after Bangladesh’s historic win, Anju said: “Joining Bangladesh was a fast-tracked move. The team was in bad shape and I was only looking to boost their morale.”
“This is a huge moment for the team and personally for me also. After the team returned from South Africa, I identified the areas that needed attention. It was a massive challenge, but I must compliment the girls as they made a genuine effort to implement every single thing that I pointed out,” she added.
Were there any special instructions, a mantra to abide by to defeat India? The Tigresses’ coach said the idea was to improve in cricketing terms and added that the result was not a fluke.
“There was no mantra as such. The idea was to improve with every match. I told the girls to make their presence felt in the tournament and they did just that. No one can say now that they beat India by fluke,” she said.
Asked if she had given her girls any special tips on Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj – both of whom she played with for Team India – Anju said, “There was no plan for any particular player, though we knew Mithali’s weaknesses. The key to every format is to have the right game plan and the girls executed that to perfection.”
