Former Maharashtra captain and coach Surendra Bhave has been appointed as Punjab’s chief coach for the forthcoming domestic season.
“The CAC has recommended his name for the chief coach for the upcoming season. Gagangdeep Singh has been appointed as the bowling coach and Sandeep Sawal will be the fielding coach,” Puneet Bali, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) secretary, told The Hindu on Saturday.
“We wanted a person with a high level of skill, high level of coaching acumen, not partisan to anything in Punjab, someone with independent opinion and independent outlook. We are looking forward to the association with Bhave.”
The Cricket Advisory Committee of PCA, headed by former India pacer Bhupinder Singh (Sr.), selected Mr. Bhave, who was a member of the national selection panel that selected the World Cup champion squad in 2011, after intervieewing multiple candidates over the last fortnight. Mr. Bhave will thus take over the reins from Munish Bali, who was the head coach for the last two seasons.
Incidentally, Mr. Bhave and Mr. Bhupinder were key players during the 1992-93 Ranji Trophy final when Punjab beat Maharashtra, led by Mr. Bhave, for its only Ranji title so far.
“Excited with the new opportunity. I thank everyone involved in PCA for bestowing faith in me,” Mr. Bhave told The Hindu. “It’s a different challenged and I am eagerly looking forward to working with the Punjab boys for the domestic season.”
Mr. Bhave will thus return to the domestic set-up after two years. Besides having two stints with his home team Maharashtra, he has also been the head coach of Haryana, Punjab’s neighbours, for two seasons. He has also served as the coach for various camps at the National Cricket Academy and India Red in the Duleep Trophy.
