South Africa have appointed Indian domestic cricket legend Amol Muzumdar as their interim batting coach for the upcoming Test series against India, Cricket South Africa announced in a release.
Muzumdar who holds high-performance coaching certificates from the BCCI, Cricket Australia and English County sides Lancashire and Yorkshire has been appointed to help their batting performance in India in a series that marks their debut in the ICC Test Championship.
Apart from his vast experience in Indian domestic cricket that saw him score over 11000 first-class runs, scoring 30 centuries in the process, Muzumdar has also been the batting coach of Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League apart from coaching the India U-19 and U-23 sides at the National Cricket Academy.
“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,” he added.
Muzumdar expressed his excitement at the new role, suggesting it will be a new chapter in his journey as a coach.
“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,” he added.
South Africa are scheduled to play three Test matches in India in October after beginning their tour with three T20 Internationals starting from September 15.