Sitanshu Kotak, Sairaj Bahutule and Munish Bali join India’s coaching staff for Ireland tour 

Former cricketers Sitanshu Kotak, Sairaj Bahutule and Munish Bali are all set to join India’s coaching staff for their upcoming short tour of Ireland consisting of a couple of T20 Internationals, wherein the former India international VVS Laxman will be the head coach. 

All these coaches have already joined the Indian cricket team during their ongoing five-match T20I series against South Africa at home, in which the home team is trailing 0-2 having lost both the matches comprehensively so far.

The reason why India are sending a separate coaching staff is because the one under Rahul Dravid will be in England preparing for the fifth and final Test of their last year’s series in the Old Blighty, which was postponed due to an outbreak of coronavirus cases in the camp. 

The current Indian cricket team coaching staff under Rahul Dravid will be leaving for England along with a few other players for the preparations of the one-off Test, which will determine if India are winning their first away series in England after they took a commanding 2-1 lead at the end of the fourth Test last year. 

The former Saurashtra batsman and one of the best in the Indian domestic cricket circuit, Sitanshu Kotak scored more than 8,000 runs in First-Class cricket in a career spanning over two decades. ESPNCricinfo reported that Sitanshu Kotak was also a part of the India A tour of South Africa in November-December 2021. 

On his part, one of the most successful spin bowlers in the history of India’s premier domestic red-ball competition, Ranji Trophy, Sairaj Bahutule took 630 wickets. He was also the bowling coach of India U-19 cricket team which won the last World Cup held in the Caribbean earlier this year. 

The former India batsman VVS Laxman, who is currently the director of cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore — a role that he took after Rahul Dravid was elevated as India’s head coach — will be the head coach for the Ireland T20Is. VVS Laxman is also the team mentor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament team Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). 

VVS Laxman was also a part of the Indian coaching staff during their victorious campaign in the U-19 World Cup in the Caribbean. 

Meanwhile, it has been reported that India’s Test specialist players will leave for England on June 15. The fifth and final Test for the Pataudi Trophy between India and England will be played in early July at Birmingham.