Amol Muzumdar has previously been appointed as the batting coach of IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals. (File Photo)Amol Muzumdar on Monday was appointed as the interim batting coach of the South African team, that will arrive in India for the three-match Test series from October 2. The 44-year-old, who has never featured for India despite amassing 11,167 first-class runs at an average of 48.13, confirmed the appointment.
“I was approached last week and I have accepted the challenge. To be associated with an international side is a huge honour,” Muzumdar, who played most of his cricket for Mumbai before moving to Assam, told PTI.
Apart from scoring over 11,000 runs in the domestic circuit, Muzumdar has 3286 runs to his name in List A cricket.
He has previously been appointed the batting coach of IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals. He also coached India’s U19 and U23 side at the National Cricket Academy. In December 2013, he also took over as the batting coach of the Netherlands.
CSA Acting Director of Cricket Corrie van Zyl said in a statement: “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.”
The 44-year-old, who is also the second-highest run-getter in the history of Ranji cricket, has a tough task at hand as he joins a team in transition for the three-Test series beginning in Visakhapatnam followed by matches in Pune (October 10-14) and Ranchi (October 19-23).
South Africa had won the ODI and T20I series against India in 2015, but were hammered 0-3 in the four-match Test series.
