BCCI Shortlists Ex-India Coach As New Bowling Coach; Awaits Gambhir's Approval
Gautam Gambhir and Jay Shah- (X.com)
India will tour Sri Lanka for a three-match T20I series followed by three ODIs starting on July 27. The upcoming tour will mark Gautam Gambhir's first assignment as the Men in Blue's head coach.
While, the apex cricket board announced the squad for the Sri Lanka series a couple of days ago, Gautam's supporting staff still remains a suspense.
There are reports that BCCI has agreed for Abhishek Nayar to be the assistant head coach and that Ryan Ten Doeschate too would be in Sri Lanka with the team, but there is no official update on the batting and bowling coach so far.
Notably, Gambhir suggested five players for the bowling coach position, including Morne Morkel and Vinay Kumar, but the board reportedly rejected them all. Now that the Men in Blue are all set to fly for the Island Nation on July 22, the BCCI has appointed an interim bowling coach for the Sri Lanka series as reported by Hindustan Times.
The board is considering former England bowling coach and current NCA coach Troy Cooley to be with the team for the upcoming series. Crooley hails from Australia and has played first-class cricket for Tasmania from 1986-95.
A Look At Crooley's Career
Crooley is also said to have helped players such as Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Simon Jones, Matthew Hoggard and James Anderson during his stint with England as their bowling coach.
Not just that, but Crooley has also served as India women's team bowling coach in the past.
At present, BCCI secretary Jay Shah is in Sri Lanka for ICC annual meeting and thus any decision on appointment of a permanent bowling coach would be taken after his return.