The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finalised a new group of 10 coaches for the Centre of Excellence (CoE). The BCCI opened coaching applications after Troy Cooley resigned from his position as head of pace bowling during January. The board pursued two objectives because it wanted to find a replacement for Cooley while it sought to create a new foundational structure for the organization.
Steffan Jones, an established English bowling coach, who trained Nitish Kumar Reddy to increase his bowling speed, emerged as the top candidate to succeed Cooley. The BCCI even met him in Hyderabad for an in-person interview. However, the deal did not go through. The board decided to hire three fast bowling coaches instead of selecting only one coach.
According to Cricbuzz VRV Singh and Lakshmipathy Balaji and P Krishnakumar will join the Bengaluru centre after IPL 2026 ends because some selected candidates are still working with franchises. VRV has previously coached Chandigarh and Punjab and he recently worked as bowling coach for India’s men’s Under-19 team.
Balaji worked as bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL from 2017 to 2022. He has maintained his coaching position at Super Kings Academy since that time. Krishnakumar has worked as Jammu and Kashmir's bowling coach since August 2024 and he recently helped them win their first Ranji Trophy title. He has also worked with players like Auqib Nabi Yudhvir Singh and Umran Malik.
Read also: Virat Kohli overtakes former RCB teammate in this T20 record with a century against KKR in Raipur
Former Karnataka all-rounder Yere Goud who played domestic cricket for 17 years will become one of the two batting coaches at the upcoming cricket academy. He has worked since his retirement as a coach for Karnataka and Andhra and India's Under-19 team. Sunetra Paranjpe who has served as head coach of the Mumbai women's cricket team since June 2023 will join him.
Dishant Yagnik who became KKR's fielding coach before IPL 2026 is likely to leave the franchise after one season. The former wicketkeeper-batter played for Rajasthan Royals (RR) from 2011 to 2014. He later became their fielding coach in 2018 before leaving ahead of the 2025 season. He is now going to the Centre of Excellence. The center will receive three additional fielding coaches.
-
Southeast Asia’s second largest economy blames Iran war for tourism downturn
-
RJ Scaringe has raised more than $12B across three startups and investors still want more
-
KL Rahul: 5 Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About Him
-
I had a gut feeling: Sakshi Chaudhary on beating Nikhat Zareen
-
Tilak to captain India ‘A’ in 50-over tri-series in Sri Lanka – Tezzbuzz
