Team India Get A Specialist Spin Bowling Coach As Sairaj Bahutule Joins Gambhir’s Support Staff

Mumbai: In a first, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Sairaj Bahutule as the senior national team’s spin bowling coach.

Former leg-spinning great Anil Kumble served as Team India’s head coach from 2016 to 2017, but this is the first time that team has a full-time specialist spin bowling coach.

South African Morne Morkel, the bowling coach of Team India, will possibly focus on the pacers as Bahutule takes care of the spin department.

A leg-spinner and handy batter in his playing days, Bahutule played two Test matches and eight ODIs, and had a distinguished first-class career spanning nearly two decades.

Post retirement, the former allrounder has built a strong reputation for nurturing and developing spin-bowling talent across domestic and franchise cricket.

Besides working as head coach of Vidarbha, Kerala, Gujarat and Bengal in Ranji Trophy, Bahutule has served as a spin-bowling coach with IPL franchises Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings.

He was the bowling coach of India’s Under-19 World Cup-winning team in 2022 and was also part of the coaching staff for the 2024 edition of the tournament.

The 53-year-old Bahutule has worked extensively with India A and the senior men’s team as a bowling coach on multiple assignments and was a key member of the coaching setup at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy (now Centre of Excellence) from 2021 to 2024.

Bahutule on Tuesday joined the team on Tuesday as Shubman Gill’s men started preparation for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, beginning on June 6 at Mullanpur stadium in New Chandigarh.

TEAM INDIA COACHING STAFF

Gautam Gambhir (head coach), Sitanshu Kotak (batting coach), Ryan ten Doeschate (assistant coach), Morne Morkel (bowling coach), Sairaj Bahutule (spin bowling coach).

TEAM INDIA TEST SQUAD

Shubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper).