Courtesy: BCCI
Sairaj Bahutule, the former Indian cricketer, is likely to rejoin Rajasthan Royals franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as a spin bowling coach ahead of the 2025 season under new head coach Rahul Dravid. The 52-year-old, who was recently working at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, now called the Centre of Excellence, has revealed in an exclusive interview about discussion between him and the officials of Rajasthan Royals currently underway.
Notably, Sairaj Bahutule was a part of the Rajasthan Royals setup from 2018 to 2021 before joining the NCA, and he has recently left the BCCI’s Center of Excellence in Bengaluru, as per the report from Cricbuzz. The Mumbai-born former cricketer is expected to be working alongside Rajasthan Royals bowling coach Shane Bond and head coach Rahul Dravid, with whom he has already worked as part of the Indian cricket team when the latter was in-charge of it.
I'm also thrilled to be reuniting with Rahul. He was the one who introduced me to the Indian team: Sairaj Bahutule
In his exclusive interview with Cricbuzz on Friday, February 7, Sairaj Bahutule talked about the advancing talks between him and Rajasthan Royals about working with each other ahead of the IPL 2025 season. He was quoted as saying, “The discussions are ongoing, and I'm close to finalizing my involvement with the franchise. There are still a few details to be worked out, but I'm excited to be realigning with the Royals.”
Bahutule also sounded very excited about the opportunity to be a part of Rahul Dravid’s support staff once again, this time at the Rajasthan Royals. He remarked, “I'm also thrilled to be reuniting with Rahul. He was the one who introduced me to the Indian team during the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in 2023 when I served as the spin-bowling coach. I was also part of his coaching staff in Sri Lanka, so I'm looking forward to our reunion.”
If Sairaj Bahutule and Rajasthan Royals strike a deal ahead of the new season of the IPL, then he will be helping the spin bowlers like Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Kumar Kartikeya to perform well this summer in the league.
