Sairaj Bahutule, former India spinner, has been named bowling coach for the upcoming India v Sri Lanka series in Sri Lanka. Bahutule has been appointed by the BCCI temporarily as India is set to play 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs in Sri Lanka starting on July 27, 2024.
Notably, Sairaj Bahutule has been associated as a bowling coach with the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and will serve as the interim bowling coach for the six-match white-ball series in the island nation.
Sairaj Bahutule to join for IND vs SL series only
Sairaj Bahutule, a Mumbai veteran in domestic cricket, played 2 Tests and 8 ODIs for India from 1997-2003. He picked 3 Test wickets and 2 ODI scalps in his career. On the other hand, he took 650 FC wickets in 188 matches and 197 wickets in 143 List-A games.
Sairaj Bahutule will join the Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff, which was first reported by Cricbuzz earlier.
Gautam Gambhir’s coaching support staff includes Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar, apart from Morne Morkel
Former India allrounder Abhishek Nayar and former Netherlands allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate are expected to join India’s support staff as assistant coaches for the upcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. T Dilip has been retained as the fielding coach of the Indian team from the Rahul Dravid regime.
The two will return with newly-appointed India head coach Gautam Gambhir, having previously acted as his assistant coach during the Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL 2024 victory.
ESPNcricinfo reported that former South African fast bowler Morne Morkel has been asked to become India’s new bowling coach. Morkel has previously worked with Gambhir at Lucknow Super Giants and Durban Super Giants in the SA20, where Gambhir served as the global mentor.
The BCCI is yet to finalize a bowling coach as they reportedly rejected Gambhir’s suggestions of R Vinay Kumar and L Balaji.
India squad for Sri Lanka ODIs
Rohit Sharma (capt), Ꮪhubman Gill (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.
India squad for Sri Lanka T20Is
Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Ꮪhubman Gill (vice-capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj.
Also Read: Suryakumar Yadav Gives 1st Reaction After Being Named India’s T20I Captain