The trio will work under head coach Rahul Dravid in the new coaching setup for Team India, starting from the series against New Zealand.
Vikram Rathour will be the batting coach, Paras Mhambrey will take the bowling coach’s role, and T Dilip will replace R Sridhar as the fielding coach. Dravid, who was recently appointed as India’s new head coach, had the final say on these selections.
The interviews for the trio apparently took place on Thursday. Although the selectors have to pick the coaches according to the Supreme Court-approved constitution, the actual process for these appointments is not yet discovered.
Just like India’s previous fielding coach, R Sridhar, T Dilip also hails from Hyderabad. T Dilip was a part of the make-shift coaching setup that travelled with the team to Sri Lanka earlier this year. There’s a good chance Dravid was satisfied with his coaching techniques, which led him to consider Dilip for the long-term role.
Mhambrey’s election as bowling coach was always on the cards, as he has been working closely with Dravid over the last few years. The former Mumbai seamer has been in association with Dravid at the U19 level, National Cricket Academy and for India A. Dravid has gone on record and said that he is “comfortable” working with the 49-year-old.
Rathour has been chosen as the batting coach. Previously, he has received good feedback from the Indian team. It was recently revealed that he had applied to be the Team India batting coach. Considering all these factors, him being selected as batting coach was a safe bet.
The trio will join up with Dravid in their first assignment against New Zealand. The first T20I is scheduled for November 17, following which two more T20Is and two Test matches will be played.
NZ have another important match before that, as they will face Trans-Tasman rivals Australia in the T20I World Cup final on Sunday.
