SA vs IND | Amol Muzumdar named South Africa's interim batting coach
Former Mumbai batsman Amol Muzumdar has been appointed as South Africa's interim batting coach for the three-match Test series against India, Cricket South Africa confirmed on Monday. Muzumdar was a consistent performer at the domestic level, scoring 11,167 runs in first-class cricket.
Muzumdar had made his first-class debut for Mumbai, which was known as Bombay back in 1994 against Haryana, scoring a double century on his debut. He was a consistent performer at the domestic level, scoring as many as 11,167 runs in first-class cricket and is the second-highest run-getter in the history of the Ranji Trophy.
Keeping his experience and understanding of the domestic cricket in mind, Cricket South Africa has appointed him as the batting coach in an interim basis and he will be with the team during the three-match Test series.
"Amol is a perfect fit for us. 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," commented CSA Acting Director of Cricket Corrie van Zyl, reported Cricbuzz.
After retiring from first-class cricket in 2014, Muzumdar has been doing commentary on domestic matches and has also been coaching various teams across formats. While the Mumbaikar has a high-performance coaching certificate from both the BCCI and Cricket Australia, he has also been the batting coach of Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, alongside coaching India's Under 19 and Under 23 sides at the National Cricket Academy in the past. In December 2013, he also took over as the batting coach of the Netherlands, albeit for a brief period.
"Cricket has always been and will continue to be my calling. 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," Muzumdar was quoted as saying.
South Africa have already reached India for the T20I series, that begins on September 15, and the team is scheduled to play three Tests in Visakhapatnam, Pune and Ranchi, starting on October 2.