The BCCI has appointed Sairaj Bahutule as the spin bowling coach of Team India before the start of the home series against Afghanistan. The former India spinner has worked with the national team in the past on a stand-in basis. He has now joined the coaching staff on a full-time basis, which means that he won’t be able to work with an IPL franchise. Bahutule, who has previously worked with the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, joined Rajasthan Royals (RR) before IPL 2025, where he again worked with Rahul Dravid. He joined Punjab Kings (PBKS) before IPL 2026 and worked under Ricky Ponting.
“It is a tremendous honour to be appointed as the Spin Bowling Coach of the Indian Men’s Cricket Team. Representing India as a player was a matter of immense pride, and the opportunity to contribute to Indian Cricket once again in a coaching capacity is deeply special. I look forward to working with the players and supporting the team’s pursuit of excellence across formats,” Bahutule said in the BCCI’s statement.
At Team India, Bahutule will work under Gambhir. He will join the likes of Morne Morkel, T Dillip and Ryan ten Doeschate.
Apart from working with RR and PBKS, Bahutule has worked with domestic teams like Vidarbha, Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala. He played 2 Tests and 8 ODIs. He had a long domestic career.
A complete package on the field, Bahutule scored 6176 runs and scalped 630 wickets in 188 first-class matches. He finished his List A career with 1367 runs and 197 wickets. He also played 12 T20s.
India vs Afghanistan fixtures
The India-Afghanistan series will kick off with the one-off Test to be played from June 6 to 10 in Mullanpur. The three ODIs will be played on June 13, 17 and 20 in Dharamsala, Lucknow and Chennai, respectively.
India’s Test Squad: Shubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper)
India’s ODI Squad: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma*, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya*, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey