Between India and Afghanistan“Ahead of the first Test, the Indian cricket team has taken a big decision. Team India has appointed Sairaj Bahutul as its new spin bowling coach. Former leg-spinner Bahutul was working with Punjab Kings for the IPL 2026 season after leaving Rajasthan Royals last year. He will now join head coach Gautam Gambhir’s coaching staff on the Cricket Board’s Muu Test Control Staff. (BCCI) Social Media Platform X confirmed the news in a post.
According to reports, India head coach Gautam Gambhir himself asked the BCCI to appoint Sairaj Bahutu as the spin bowling coach. India will be whitewashed 0-3 by New Zealand and 0-2 by South Africa in 2024 without Gambhir as a spin coach since Rahul Dravid took over from Rahul Dravid in July.‘I had to. The defeat may have opened Gambhir’s eyes and made the team management feel the need for a spin coach. Bahutul will now join the Indian team in Mullanpur and will work with young spinners like Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dub.
53-year-old Sairaj Bahutul is a well-known coach in the cricket world. He has worked with many young spinners in four years as a specialist bowling coach at the Center of Excellence in Bengaluru. Earlier he served as the interim bowling coach of the Indian teamWhen Gambhir went on tour as head coach for the first time. He also has experience of working in various domestic cricket teams. Apart from Gambhir, the Indian team currently includes Sitanshu Kotak and Ryan Ten Doss. The team only lacked a spin bowling coach and now India filled that gap. It is expected that the Indian spinners will now perform better, who were left behind by the New Zealand and South African spinners. Bahutul will not be limited to Test matches only, he will be part of the training squad in all formats and his next assignment after this Test match will be the ODI series between India and Afghanistan.
Sairaj Bahutul’s international playing career was full of ups and downs. He made his debut in Indian cricket in 1997 and managed to play only two Tests and eight ODIs during these last matches. But his performance in domestic cricket was impressive. In his 20-year career, he played 188 first-class matches and took 630 wickets. He also played 143 List A matches and took 197 wickets with leg spin.