Former chief selector Hemlata Kala is among five female candidates who have applied to become the Indian women's team's head coach, a position that has been held by men since 2017. Mamatha Maben, Jaya Sharma, Suman Sharma and Nooshin Al Khadeer are the others who have presented their candidature for the job. Among the men, incumbent W V Raman has reapplied after his term ended with the home series loss to South Africa in March.

Former coaches of the team, Ramesh Powar and Tushar Arothe, have also thrown their hat into the ring. Both Powar and Arothe were forced to leave in acrimonious circumstances after developing differences with senior players. The Madan Lal-led Cricket Advisory Committee is supposed to pick the head coach after the application deadline ended on April 26. The women's selection committee, headed by Neetu David, are inclined towards a female head coach for the national team, which has a lot of work to do before the ODI World Cup in New Zealand early next year. "We are yet to hear from the BCCI on the interview date (of candidates). When we get down to that, we will pick the best person for the job whether male or female," World Cup-winner Lal told PTI. Purnima Rau was the last female head coach of the Indian team until she was removed in April 2017.