Continuing with the practice of visiting teams availing the services of homegrown players, South Africa national cricket team have appointed former Mumbai Ranji Trophy player Amol Muzumdar as their interim batting coach for the three-match Test series against India.
Muzumdar had a reputable first-class career which lasted 20 years, during which he registered 11,000 runs, at an average of 48. He also registered a career-best 260 on his first-class debut for Mumbai. His previous coaching appointment have included being the batting coach of Rajasthan Royals at the IPL, coaching the India under-19 and under-23 sides at the National Cricket Academy and being batting coach of the Netherlands national side.
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“Cricket has always been and will continue to be my calling,” said Muzumdar.
“Having spent 25 years on the pitch as a player I intend to spend the next 25 tapping and grooming talent on the cricket field. I am very excited about this new chapter to my coaching career," he further added.
“Amol is a perfect fit for us,” commented CSA Acting Director of Cricket Corrie van Zyl. “He brings an intimate knowledge of Indian playing conditions and the challenges our batsmen are likely to face. He also assisted us at the spin bowling camp we held recently in India and thus has already built up a good working relationship with Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma and Zubayr Hamza.”
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The upcoming Test series Vs India is also the Proteas' first assignment of the World Test Championship.
Such an appointment is not new in the cricketing world, with visiting teams always looking to appoint consultants from the host nations. In the past, former cricketer Sridharan Sriram worked with the Australia A team which toured India in 2015 as a spin consultant. He was also a coaching consultant for Australia in their 2015 Test series Vs Bangladesh. Recently, former Sri Lanka player Thilan Samaraweera assisted New Zealand in their recent Test series in his home country.
(Cricket South Africa Inputs)
