Vellaswamy Vanitha was appointed as the head coach of the Shivamogga Lions for the upcoming Maharaja Trophy, a tournament hosted by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).
She was also present at the auction table for the tournament, getting some solid players like Abhinav Manohar and Shreyas Gopal.
On becoming the head coach, she said, “I had this in mind for a long time—getting into coaching men’s cricket and understanding the dynamics. I wanted to be part of it, maybe as an assistant coach. But the franchises felt that I was good enough to be the head coach. So, I have to give it to them for showing confidence in me.”
Vanitha announced her retirement in 2022. She was then appointed as the coach of Karnataka’s U16 team. Soon she was then slotted in as the talent scout for RCB for the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
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“Even before announcing my retirement, I wanted to get into coaching. I was very clear in my mind. But WPL was not something I was expecting then. Till early January, we were not even sure if RCB would be getting a team, but eventually, WPL happened, and that helped me a lot.”
Earlier Vanitha had coached boys while working as a coach at the Karnataka’s Renowned coach RX Murali’s academy. That experience is definitely going to come in handy for Vanitha in the Maharaja Trophy.
On being asked about the team she has picked in the auctions, Vanitha said, “Previously being a scout, I understand what to look for in a player. I don’t want to go by reputation, but rather pick players who can suit the style of play of my team. I would want the players to be more dynamic, and that’s something we followed in the Maharaja Trophy auction.”
Vanitha also said that she doesn’t want to restrict her coaching career to just Women’s cricket, she wants to challenge herself in different categories so that she can grow in her career. Vanitha has played a total of 22 matches for India between 2014 to 2016, she has scored a total of 301 runs. It is genuinely going to be a starting point for women coaches to enter into the domain of coaching men’s teams. It is going to be really exciting to watch Shivamogga Lions play under her coaching.
(Quotes sourced from Sportstar)
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