The first Test will begin on February 9 in Nagpur.
Indian team management has called for the services of former national and Mumbai leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule to assist India’s spinners during the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series 2023 which begins from February 9 in Nagpur.
Given the speculations of spin-friendly pitches, Indian team batters have been practicing hard against R Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja. Not wanting to leave any stone unturned, the Indian team also asked quite a few spinners — Washington Sundar, Saurabh Kumar, Sai Kishore, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav and Pulkit Narang — to join the short camp in Nagpur.
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“For Dravid, an international series is the perfect stage to give exposure to as many players and coaches as possible. It’s a perfect idea to develop bench strength in all the departments,” a source said.
Bahutule, who played two Tests and eight ODIs for India, featured in 188 first-class games in which he took 630 wickets and scored 6176 runs. He is currently the spin bowling coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
He was also the bowling coach of the Indian team on the New Zealand tour last November.
(Times of India inputs)