Former India spinner and recently World Cup-winning U-19 support staff Sairaj Bahulay caught the attention of several journalists as he was seen taking stock of spinner Kuldeep Yadav on the second day of Indian cricket’s nets session. Ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka, Bahutule, who was associated with the team National Cricket Academy (NCA, Bengaluru), flew to Mohali to ‘assist’ the Test team, who was also practicing as coach Rahul Dravid and the team. The three-match T20I series was busy playing.
His appearance sparked a wild speculation that Bahutule might have been hired as the support staff of the senior team. However, it was not so. “Sai has been in Mohali with the Test experts who went there more than a week ago. He is assisting them in their training while Rahul and others were with the white-ball squad,” a BCCI official told Cricbuzz.
He was accompanied by Apoorva Desai, former first-class cricketer from Gujarat. Desai (46) is the batting coach at NCA. “They will be with the team for a few more days before going back to the NCA,” a BCCI official denied any new recruits for the Indian team.
The second test match will be played in Bengaluru from March 12. But before that all eyes are on Virat Kohli who is playing his hundredth Test match. We take a look at three iconic moments.
– Debut Down Under Kohli stepped down as Test captain for the first time in December 2014 in Adelaide, replacing the injured MS Dhoni, and made an immediate impact. After scoring 115 in the first innings of the first Test, he followed India’s 364-run chase with 141 runs, though India eventually fell short by 48 runs.
– ‘you said it’ – His fiery personality was shown in a dramatic home Test series against Australia in 2017, when Kohli’s opposite number Steve Smith looked to his dressing room for advice on a DRS call. Kohli reacted with the umpires and later accused the visitors of regularly abusing the decision review system. Asked by an Australian journalist whether he was implying that Smith – who argued for a “brain fed” – was a hoax, Kohli said: “I didn’t say that, you did.”
– all victorious –Two years later, Kohli led India to their first Test series win in Australia after seven decades of trying – a moment he described as his “best achievement” at the time. His 82 in the first innings of the third Test in Melbourne was a crucial match and among the tourists to win the series 2-1, coach Ravi Shastri said Kohli’s leadership skills “made all the difference”. India rose to the top of the Test rankings and remained there for more than three years, with their flamboyant batting and – unusual for India – with their formidable fast bowling attack that outclassed all players at home and away.
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