It’s a transition period in Indian men’s cricket, not only for players but also for coaches. The upcoming tour of Sri Lanka will begin his new term, with Gautam Gambhir taking over from Rahul Dravid as the head coach with a new group of staff.
Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate will be part of him as assistant coaches earlier than officially being appointed as batting and bowling coaches, respectively. But there’s still little clarity on the bowling coach. Former South African pacer Morne Morkel seems to be the outright favourite however he will best join the team after the tour.
So briefly, India has brought in Sairaj Bahutule because of the bowling coach for the tour. The former Mumbai leg-spinner changed into a household name amongst domestic cricket enthusiasts in the 2000s however is little regarded now.
Below are 5 lesser-known facts about him you should know:
1. Sairaj Bahutule is a Ranji Trophy legend
An extremely good leg-spinner and a grasp of the use of bouncy tracks, Bahutule is a well-reputable determine in the Mumbai ground. Those who played with him or straight away after him, keep in mind him one of the great players produced through the city.
He played a whopping 188 First-Class matches, taking 630 wickets at 26, which was a notable average for an attacking leggie. He became also a performed batter with 6176 runs to his name at 31.83 and performed many important lower-order knocks.
In the Ranji Trophy, he picked up 405 wickets on report, putting him on the list of 10th all-time maximum wicket-takers listing for the tournament, beforehand of Bishan Singh Bedi. Even within the modern generation, he’d be considered an all-spherical in shape-winner.
2. Recovered from a close-to-fatal accident in youth
Now, if you consider that Bahutule’s numbers were staggering, the story at the back of it became even more awesome. When he became 17 he met a near-deadly car accident, which took the life of his buddy Vivek Singh.
Bahutule went right into a coma, broke his femur, and needed to have a metal rod inserted in his leg. Somehow, after plenty of Resilience from his father, Vasant, a former cricketer for Maharashtra, Bahutule back to cricket.
Everything changed whilst he picked 19 wickets in 3 matches in an Under-19 match in Mumbai. The legendary Dilip Vengsarkar spotted him and pushed for his choice within the senior Mumbai team.
Photo: Sportstar/Telegraph
3. Played 10 internationals for India
Soon, Bhatule turned into a professional player for India below-19 and picked more wickets. He was additionally worried about the famous match in which Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli placed on the report 664-run stand within the Harris Shield, though he became at the competition aspect.
However, he did not take an awful lot more time to be their teammate at Mumbai. A 13-wicket haul within the Irani Trophy (1997-98) earned him an ODI debut for India.
He performed seven games in the following couple of months but picked up wickets on some infamously flat tracks. He was given Tests against Australia and Sri Lanka in 2001 after an awesome pleasant season however couldn’t utilize that opportunity again.
He was called up for the 2003-2004 TVS Cup where a wicketless overall performance and 11 (13) with the bat became his last scoreboard contribution to Indian cricket as a player. After that, it became perenially tough to be in the team in which Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh dominated the playing 11s. He switched from Mumbai to Maharashtra after which to Vidarbha before retiring in January 2013.
4. Ethics Controversy: Caught in the Crossfire
After taking coaching jobs in Kerala and Vidarbha after his retirement Bahutule generic the role with Bengal only a few days after he became appointed coach of the Mumbai Under-23 side. Vengsarkar, who turned into the vice president of the Mumbai Cricket Association at the time, wasn’t glad.
Who knew that the equal Vengsarkar who observed Bahutule’s skills could be calling him out with sturdy phrases only a few years later?
5. He has been on the NCA for a long term and become a part of VVS Laxman’s workforce
Now, for his training credentials, other than domestic teams, Bahutule has had a role at Rajasthan Royals too, as a spin bowling coach. He took the bowling coach role at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru in November 2021.
Since then, he has been on multiple assignments with the senior side beneath the VVS Laxman after he replaced Rahul Dravid as the NCA leader.
Their first assignment was in the tour of Ireland in mid-2022, accompanied by a tour of New Zealand later that year after which managing the men’s and women’s groups at the Asian Games in 2023, with Dravid unavailable in each case. This would be Bahutule’s first stint with a first-string Indian side with the Head Coach.
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