Rajasthan Royals, the franchise who makes a comeback to the IPL after serving their 2-year ban has roped in former Indian domestic stalwart Amol Muzumdar as their batting coach for the season. Along with head of cricket Zubin Bharucha and bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule, Amol Muzumdar will oversee Rajasthan Royals’ first camp in Jaipur from March 13.
“We are proud to have Amol Muzumdar on board as the team’s batting coach. His record on domestic circuit speaks for his greatness. The young batsmen will get so much to learn from him and develop their skills,” said Zubin Bharucha.
Amol Muzumdar said he was eager to work with the players. “These are exciting times for a batsman. Twenty20 has completely changed the contours of the game. The skill sets are different, the game is more happening. There is never a dull moment,” he said.
“As a coach, one has to constantly innovate and adapt while guiding the youngsters acquire new batting skills and keeping the basics of the game intact at the same time. It is a role I am excited about,’ he added.
Royals retained only Steve Smith before the IPL auctions and roped in Ben Stokes and Jaydev Unadkat for the season. While Stokes was the costliest international signing this season, Unadkat bagged the most money for an Indian signing.
Steve Smith who will lead the side will have the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, D'Arcy Short, Jos Buttler besides Ben Stokes in their batting line up. BBL star Jofra Archer will have many eyes hooked onto him as he will be the star to watch out for in the bowling department.
In 171 first-class matches, Muzumdar scored 11,167 runs at an average of 48.13 runs with 30 hundreds and 60 half centuries. He has also captained Mumbai to the Ranji Trophy title.
RR Squad
Steve Smith (retained 12.5 crore), Ben Stokes (12.5 c), Ajinkya Rahane (4 c), Stuart Binny (50 Lakh), Sanju Samson (8 c), Jos Buttler (4.4 c), Rahul Tripathi (3.4 c), D’Arcy Short (4 c), Jofra Archer (7.2 c), K Gowtham (6.2 crore), Dhawal Kulkarni (75 lakh, RTM), Jaydev Unadkat (11.5 crore), Ankit Sharma (20 lakh), Anureet Singh (30 lakh), Zahir Khan Pakteen (60 lakh), Shreyas Gopal (20 lakh), MS Midhun (20 lakh), Prashant Chopra (20 lakh), Ben Laughlin (50 lakh), Mahipal Lomror (20 lakh), Aryaman Birla (30 lakh), Jatin Saxena (20 lakh), Dushmantha Chameera (50 lakh)
