After serving Rajasthan's senior women's team for two years as head coach, former Vidarbha captain turned coach Priyanka Acharya has a new assignment. She has been approached for coaching Assam age group teams this season. However, the former all-rounder has her heart in Vidarbha where she once swung the willow that shaped her cricketing career.
"If I get an opportunity, I will be more than willing to serve in Vidarhba," she confessed while talking to Lokmat Times on Tuesday even as she was thrilled on being offered the Assam coaching assignment. Priyanka was the first woman cricketer from the region to become a coach for another state team when she joined the Rajasthan womens' cricket squad. She was also the first woman cricketer of Vidarbha to play as a professional cricketer for the state of Sikkim.
Priyanka was confirmed as the coach for the north-eastern state on July 1 and will coach the under-15 and under-23 teams of Assam. She says she enjoyed her engagement coaching Rajasthan girls and had lovely memories of her time there. “There is no particular reason behind quitting Rajasthan," she revealed when asked why she gave up the assignment. "I wanted to continue but there were some uncertainities which forced me to take this decision," she said wistfully. "I took a professional call when Assam offered me two categories for coaching and I look forward to working with their under-15 and under-23 teams”, she said.
Priynaka, who is working under the defence account department at Amla, said, “I have a nice experience with the Rajasthan squad. I really enjoyed my role as a coach. We had many memorable games and pulled out stunning victories when we were at the receiving end". The former Vidarbha ace said that the Rajasthan squad had qualified for the knockouts in all formats of the game within two years. "It was a good achievement for the team and for me as their coach. Under-15 girls teams had also qualified for knockouts under my coaching,” she said.
On her new project and the challenges that she expects to face coaching Assam teams, Priyanka said, it was too early to offer a comment at this stage. "I have not gone through the team records yet but the main challenge, I feel, will be the language and connecting with Assamese culture," she noted. "To make a thumping impact you have to really connect with the team and knowing the culture, helps. Let's wait and watch”, she said.
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Now two Vidarbhites are Assam coaches
Priyanka is the second Vidarbhite who will coach the Assam team. Former Vidarbha player and coach Trevor Gonsalves is already the head coach of senior men's team from last season. He is also the fielding coach of Punjab Kings in Indian Premier League (IPL). When pointed out to Priyanka she said, “It will be very nice. He has vast experience of coaching and on the other hand I am just a beginner. I will take guidance from him”, she said.