The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirms the appointment of Paddy Upton as a mental conditioning coach.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the appointment of Paddy Upton as a mental conditioning coach. The official Twitter handle of BCCI posted a photo of Upton in Port of Spain.
“Say hello to our mental conditioning coach Mr. Paddy Upton,”
tweeted BCCI.
It is to be noted that Upton was also part of the Indian supporting staff team in the 2011 World Cup winning team.
Earlier, the news agency PTI reported that Upton was roped in for a short-term contract and will be the latest edition to coach Rahul Dravid’s team of supporting staff.
The former was first roped in by the Indian coach Gary Kirsten when he took the charge of the senior national team in 2008 and they build a solid partnership till 2011.
He has been associated with the various IPL teams since then and has worked with Dravid at Rajasthan Royals.
It is understood that Dravid approached Upton to be familiar with his style of work which had worked wonders for the Indian team in the last decade.
Upton was working as the team catalyst for Rajasthan Royals in the last IPL season.
In the run-up to the 2011 World Cup, Upton would talk about making the phrase
“when we play the World Cup final in Mumbai”
more commonplace to lessen the pressure on the team to play in a significant final. Soon, he might start saying,
“when we play the World Cup final at MCG.”
With India going into the T20 World Cup with a hectic schedule, starting with the first game against Pakistan in Melbourne on October 23, Dravid has recognized the need for a man who is well known for being a good motivator and who also helps the players with the problems of international cricket.