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Team India's senior management has asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to rope in former Indian spinner Sairaj Bahutule as senior men's team spin bowling coach, as per sources.
The sources also added that the spinner, currently serving as a spin bowling coach with the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) runners-up Punjab Kings (PBKS), is likely to join the team soon. Bahutule has extensive coaching experience, having been involved as a coach with Kerala and Bengal cricket teams in the past and also served as the spin bowling coach of the Rajasthan Royals (RR). The 53-year-old represented India in two Tests and eight ODIs, taking three Test wickets and two ODI wickets. He made a name for himself as a spinner who could bat in domestic cricket. In 188 first-class matches, the Mumbai-born took 630 wickets at an average of 26.00 and best figures of 8/71, including 27 five-fors and four ten-wicket-hauls. With the bat, he also made 6,176 runs at an average of 31.83, including nine centuries and 26 fifties in 242 innings. In List-A cricket, he took 197 wickets in 143 matches at an average of 26.17, with nine four-fers and a five-for. He also scored 1,367 runs in 87 innings at an average of 23.16, including a century and two fifties. Bahutule played just 12 T20s, taking 10 wickets at an average of 27.00 and scoring 106 runs in eight innings, with a fifty to his name. He has played for Maharashtra, Mumbai, Vidarbha, Assam and Andhra Pradesh in domestic cricket. Notably, Team India does not have any spin bowling coach in their set-up as of now. The two-time World Test Championship (WTC) runners-up have asked for Sairaj to take up the role as the Test side aims to make a successful transition from the legendary spin duo of now-retired Ravichandran Ashwin and star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who is still a vital part of the Test side. In ODIs, besides Jadeja, India has stars like Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, making them a lethal spin bowling team. (ANI)
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