Former Indian leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutole. The spin bowling coach of the Indian men’s cricket team was on Tuesday appointed ahead of the one-off Test against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh from June 6 to 10.“Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCIBCCI said in a media release that it is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Sairaj Bhatole as the Spin Bowling Coach of the Indian Cricket Team (Senior Men).Bahotole joins the national setup after his stint with Punjab Kings in IPL 2026, where he served as the franchise’s spin bowling coach. He will now be responsible for overseeing India’s spin bowling group across all formats.The 53-year-old brings extensive coaching experience at both the domestic and franchise levels. He was the spin bowling consultant for the Indian team during the 2022–23 home Test series against Australia under then head coach Rahul Dravid. He also served as spin bowling coach at BCCI’s National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru from 2021 to 2024.Bahutole previously served as the spin bowling coach of Rajasthan Royals from 2018 to 2021 and again from 2025. He has also been the head coach of several domestic teams including Bengal, Vidarbha, Kerala and Gujarat.As a player, Bahutole represented India in two Tests and eight ODIs. He also enjoyed a long domestic career, scoring 6,176 runs and taking 630 wickets in first-class cricket.The Indian coaching staff currently consists of batting coach Sitanshu Kotick, fast bowling coach Morne Morkel, fielding coach T Dileep and assistant coach Ryan ten Douchet. Bahutul will now take over as spin bowling coach.
