Rajasthan Royals have roped in Sairaj Bahutule as their spin bowling coach for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. Bahutule will be working for RR under the supervision of the head coach Rahul Dravid.
Before Bahutule, former India batting coach Vikram Rathour had also joined RR as their batting coach for IPL 2025 and beyond. Bahutule will be working with the team’s bowling coach Shane Bond, who has been with the franchise for some time.
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Sairaj Bahutule joins Rahul Dravid’s coaching staff at Rajasthan Royals
Sairaj Bahutule was recently working at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. He has also worked previously for Royals from 2018 to 2021 ahead of joining NCA, which has been converted to Centre of Excellence now.
Bahutule spoke to Cricbuzz about his appointment with Rajasthan Royals. He is excited to join the franchise and work under Rahul Dravid. Bahutule has previously worked with Dravid even during the latter’s tenure with the Indian team.
“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 said.
“I’m also thrilled to be reuniting with Rahul (Dravid). 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,” he added.
Sairaj Bahutule’s stint with Indian team
Sairaj Bahutule has also briefly served as India’s bowling coach after the T20 World Cup 2024 when the team was without a bowling coach before Morne Morkel’s appointment into the role.
Sairaj Bahutule has also served played 2 Tests and 5 ODIs for India. He was also India’s bowling coach during the team’s tour of South Africa for a four-match T20I series last year. VVS Laxman was the team’s interim head coach in the absence of the regular head coach Gautam Gambhir, who was preparing the team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Sairaj Bahutule will be working with Rajasthan Royals bowlers throughout the year. RR has a strong bowling line-up consisting of the likes of Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Akash Madhwal, and Tushar Deshpande. The team’s spin bowling contingent consists of Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, and Kumar Kartikeya.
Rajasthan Royals’ recent performances
Rajasthan Royals are the inaugural winners of the IPL having won the tournament way back in 2008 under the leadership of Shane Warne. However, the team has been unable to replicate its success since then and are yet to win their second trophy.
They finished third in the points table in the IPL 2024 season where they were knocked out after losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2. RR reached the final in IPL 2022 but lost to Gujarat Titans in the summit clash.
The team will be led by Sanju Samson, who was retained by the franchise before the IPL 2025 mega auctions. The franchise roped in Rahul Dravid as their head coach as he left the role of India’s coach after the T20 World Cup 2024.
