All posts tagged: Cricket coaching

BCCI appoints Sairaj Bahutule as India’s spin bowling coach

BCCI appoints Sairaj Bahutule as India’s spin bowling coach

Published by Parlour News

2 min readJun 2, 2026 09:32 PM IST Former India leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule was on Tuesday appointed as the spin bowling coach of the men’s national team, having worked in the India U-19 and India A set-up earlier. Bahutule, who represented India in two Tests and eight ODIs, was seen in the Punjab Kings jersey in the recently concluded IPL. “The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Sairaj Bahutule as the Spin Bowling Coach of the Indian Cricket Team (Senior Men),” the BCCI said in a statement. A distinguished performer on the domestic circuit, the 53-year-old claimed 630 wickets and tallied 6,176 runs in first-class cricket that spanned nearly two decades. Following his retirement, Bahutule built an impressive coaching resume, serving as head coach of Vidarbha, Kerala, Gujarat and Bengal. He also worked as spin-bowling coach with IPL franchises Rajasthan Royals and most recently Punjab Kings and was associated with the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy, now known as the Centre of Excellence, between 2021 and …

Abhishek Sharma and the sightscreen father

Abhishek Sharma and the sightscreen father

Published by Webster

On Tuesday night, Abhishek Sharma had just hit 135 off 68 balls. The stadium in Hyderabad was still making the noise it makes after something like that. The presentation microphone was in his hand. And in that moment, with all of it around him, Abhishek Sharma thought about his father. “I don’t know how, but since my Under-12 days, my dad has been sitting next to the screen all the time. Whenever I am at the non-striker’s end, he always tells me how to play a certain shot. It’s still going on. I want one of the cameras to go to him next time and just see his reactions.” Raj Kumar Sharma was near the sightscreen. He is always near the sightscreen. It started when Abhishek was playing junior cricket in Punjab. Sharma Sr would travel across the state, find the stand nearest the sightscreen, and sit. Not cheer. Sit and watch. From there he could read a bowler’s wrist. He could see the seam position shift, the change-up being loaded, the field setting into …

‘The ball left the bat unlike anyone else’

‘The ball left the bat unlike anyone else’

Published by Webster

The first time I saw him, he was 17 years old. We were in Jaipur, and he just proceeded to smash bowlers straight out of the park. My first thought was simple: this looks incredibly special. But it wasn’t the power that struck me. It was something far more specific — the way the ball left the bat. This is a deep cricketing thing, the kind that’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t lived inside the game. The sound a ball makes when it’s hit. The way it projects itself forward. Very few people have that kind of timing — that fluid, almost effortless backlift that allows them to do it. It’s a rare gift. And Sanju possessed it as a teenager. What I came to understand over years of working with him is that a backlift isn’t just a technical choice. It’s DNA. It’s linked to something called depth perception — how you perceive an object coming towards you, and how your body automatically moves the bat in response. That movement, that precise …

‘This time I’m quite clear about that position’: Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer wants to bat at No.3 in IPL | Ipl News

‘This time I’m quite clear about that position’: Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer wants to bat at No.3 in IPL | Ipl News

Published by Webster

Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer said that he wanted to bat at No.3 in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League which might in turn help him find a place in India T20I squad. With the 2026 T20 World Cup looming, Iyer’s performance in his debut season for Punjab Kings can go a long way in the national team considering him for the shortest format. “We already know that IPL is an integral part of Indian cricket. And If I would want to mark myself at some position in T20, it would be number 3. And that’s what I’m focusing at. I wouldn’t say that we are planning and thinking about what number I will be batting. This time I’m quite clear about that position. And I’m going to be focusing on that number. As long as coach approves of me,” he said. Iyer, who won the IPL title with Kolkata Knight Riders last season, said he was excited to work with Ricky Ponting again after their three-year stint with the Delhi Capitals. Story …

Gautam Gambhir stamps authority with Varun Chakravarthy masterstroke but needs to more open-minded | Cricket News

Gautam Gambhir stamps authority with Varun Chakravarthy masterstroke but needs to more open-minded | Cricket News

Published by Webster

Late last year during the Australia tour, head coach Gautam Gambhir’s patience finally ran out that Melbourne evening when he had a strong spray at his players in the dressing room for losing the Boxing Day Test that seemed eminently draw-able with a couple of hours left to go on the final day. “Bahut ho gaya, I have had enough” – Gambhir, as reported by this newspaper then, had told the team. He said he had allowed the team to do what it wanted for the “last six months” but now he would “decide” how they play. There was also a warning – it will be ‘thank you’ to those who don’t abide by his pre-decided team strategy plan. Since that Melbourne Test, the coach has been stamping his authority more and more. Story continues below this ad The ICC Champions Trophy was his first real big event after the Australia tour. The new beginning, under the more proactive Gambhir, would start with team selection. It’s learnt that it was him who pushed hard for …

Champions Trophy: Why Kuldeep Yadav, a dream bowler, a dazed fielder, amazes and aggravates team-mates in equal measure | Cricket News

Champions Trophy: Why Kuldeep Yadav, a dream bowler, a dazed fielder, amazes and aggravates team-mates in equal measure | Cricket News

Published by Parlour News

There are a couple of players slower than him on the field, there are players who drop more catches than him, but it’s Kuldeep Yadav who is the target of the most fierce gestures from the captain Rohit Sharma or the senior Virat Kohli. Not without a reason, as Kuldeep can inexplicably slip into a state of laxity – be it not collecting a throw (which prompted both Rohit and Kohli to have a go at him during the game against Australia and Kohli and Jadeja to have a spray in the final against New Zealand), or bowling flatter, and not looking for wickets. “Aisa daalega toh, main bowling nahi doonga,” Rohit had once yelled from the slips in a Test. What makes Kuldeep Yadav the target for such ire? Because Rohit knows the value of Kuldeep the strike-bowler and the player when not wandering in the garden. Last May, months after he made his comeback from a knee injury that had threatened to derail him, Kuldeep would talk about his relationship with the captain: …

Rohit has always kept others in-front and let them grow: Suryakumar Yadav | Cricket News

Rohit has always kept others in-front and let them grow: Suryakumar Yadav | Cricket News

Published by Webster

Rohit Sharma is easily the most “honest and clean hearted man” who has always let others grow, feels India’s T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav as he expressed confidence that his skipper will lead the country to ICC Champions Trophy triumph against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday. “He is very natural and instinctive. Whatever he does he keeps others in front and watches others grow. He is an easily approachable man. He always raises his hand and say I will do this for you. He is very natural on and off the field, clean-hearted, very honest,” Surya said at the ‘India Today Conclave’. Surya believes that a calm dug-out means a happy dressing room and hence players who are fearless and expressive. “The camaraderie and trust which is seen on the ground among the players, most importantly the dug out is relaxed. When you see the dug out is relaxed, that means something right is happening inside,” said the T20 superstar, who has had an amazing year as full-time skipper in shortest format. Story continues below …

I saw some comments from Sunil Gavaskar about the Indian B team or the Indian C team beating Pakistan’s top team… Absolute nonsense: Jason Gillespie | Cricket News

I saw some comments from Sunil Gavaskar about the Indian B team or the Indian C team beating Pakistan’s top team… Absolute nonsense: Jason Gillespie | Cricket News

Published by Webster

Former Pakistan coach Jason Gillespie slammed Sunil Gavaskar about his comments on Indian B team giving a tough run to Pakistan side in their current state. The Men in Green have been knocked out of the Champions Trophy 2025 without reaching the semifinals and they had a similarly poor run in 2024 T20 World Cup when they got knocked out in the group stage. “I don’t buy this rhetoric. I saw some comments from Sunil Gavaskar about the Indian B team or the Indian C team beating Pakistan’s top team. That’s nonsense. Absolute nonsense. If Pakistan picks and stick with the right players and gives them time to shine, time to learn, and develop their games, they can beat anyone. I have got no doubt about that,” Gillespie would say. “If the PCB, as a board, wants to change and get the right results, they need to get the right people, the right selection panel, and give players time to flourish and do their job. If you are hiring a new coach, give him the …

Champions Trophy: How Matt Henry removed Shubman Gill by targeting his one batting weakness | Cricket News

Champions Trophy: How Matt Henry removed Shubman Gill by targeting his one batting weakness | Cricket News

Published by Webster

It’s amazing really how Shubman Gill hasn’t managed to erase that one weakness in his batting for all these years: the slow weight transfer onto the front foot. Sunday afternoon provided yet another iteration of the deja-vu. New Zealand in particular have done it often before; Kyle Jamieson on at least two occasions, Tim Southee and this time it was Matt Henry. Other bowlers too have got him with the same ball — Kagiso Rabada, James Anderson and Mohammad Shami (in the IPL). The television coverage has saturated our minds’ by now about what that good length is: say 6 to 8 metres from the batsman’s stumps. Matt Henry’s delivery landed on a length, say closer to the 8m and skidded in. Anything closer to him, Gill has no issues. Even closer to the 6m mark from his stumps, he has relatively less issues as he lets his wonderful hands do the jailbreak for him. Henry’s delivery skidded in a bit from that length and Gill was on the move, trying to work it around …