COLOMBO: Former India and Mumbai leg-spinning allrounder Sairaj Bahutule will travel to Sri Lanka as Team India‘s bowling coach for the six-match white-ball series, TOI has learnt.
Serving as a bowling coach at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for the last three years, Bahutule has been a part of the support staff with the India A and the Indian teams with previous head coach Rahul Dravid and NCA chairman VVS Laxman.
Bahutule, who played two Tests and eight ODIs for India and took five wickets between 1997-2003, featured in 188 first-class games, in which he took a staggering 630 wickets@26.00, and scored 6176 runs@31.83.
The Mumbaikar has done good work with India’s young spinners, and his presence should particularly help the team’s spinners Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar, who are all part of the India T20 team, and Kuldeep Yadav, who will feature in the ODIs. He was also with the Indian team during the home series against Sri Lanka last year. In 2017, he worked with Australia’s young spinners at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence.
The 51-year-old has been the spin bowling coach of the Rajasthan Royals, and has coached Vidarbha, Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala in domestic cricket.
The BCCI seems to have made the temporary arrangement for the six-match white-ball series as ex-South African pacer Morne Morkel, who is likely to join from the home international season starting from September, would not have been available for the Sri Lanka tour. The Indian team will arrive in Colombo on Monday and straightaway proceed to Kandy, where they start the tour with three T20Is from July 27.
India’s new head coach Gautam Gambhir‘s support staff for the Sri Lanka tour will thus include Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate (assistant coaches), Bahutule and fielding coach T Dilip.
Serving as a bowling coach at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for the last three years, Bahutule has been a part of the support staff with the India A and the Indian teams with previous head coach Rahul Dravid and NCA chairman VVS Laxman.
Bahutule, who played two Tests and eight ODIs for India and took five wickets between 1997-2003, featured in 188 first-class games, in which he took a staggering 630 wickets@26.00, and scored 6176 runs@31.83.
The Mumbaikar has done good work with India’s young spinners, and his presence should particularly help the team’s spinners Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar, who are all part of the India T20 team, and Kuldeep Yadav, who will feature in the ODIs. He was also with the Indian team during the home series against Sri Lanka last year. In 2017, he worked with Australia’s young spinners at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence.
The 51-year-old has been the spin bowling coach of the Rajasthan Royals, and has coached Vidarbha, Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala in domestic cricket.
The BCCI seems to have made the temporary arrangement for the six-match white-ball series as ex-South African pacer Morne Morkel, who is likely to join from the home international season starting from September, would not have been available for the Sri Lanka tour. The Indian team will arrive in Colombo on Monday and straightaway proceed to Kandy, where they start the tour with three T20Is from July 27.
India’s new head coach Gautam Gambhir‘s support staff for the Sri Lanka tour will thus include Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate (assistant coaches), Bahutule and fielding coach T Dilip.
