Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has expressed his desire to take up the role of batting coach for the Indian national cricket team. He spoke about his ambitions on social media, reacting to reports that the BCCI was looking for a new batting coach.
The Indian national cricket team has come under extensive scrutiny following their poor performance in Tests in recent times. The team has managed to win just one match in their last 8 matches in the longest format of the game, which included a 3-0 loss in the home Test series against New Zealand.
The main reason for the team’s poor performance was batting. The batsmen of the Indian national cricket team got off to a rough start. There were also various falls by the batsmen, which tilted the game in their favor on many occasions.
The BCCI is exploring the possibility of adding a new member to the coaching staff
The Indian national cricket team’s batsmen, especially the seniors, have struggled to score runs in the home Test series. The same fate befell them even in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where the team lost the series by a margin of 3-1, losing the trophy after 10 years.
After the bad outings, the team’s coaching staff came under great scrutiny, especially those who deal with batting. The coaching staff led by Gautam Gambhir faced a lot of criticism and there were reports related to their sacking.
Recently, there were reports claiming that the BCCI is exploring the possibility of adding a new member to the coaching staff, specifically a batting coach. According to reports in Cricbuzz, discussions regarding the same are learned to have taken place at the audit meeting in Mumbai.
Indian players have got away with it in a similar fashion throughout the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Virat Kohli in particular was coming out to the ball outside the field while some of the youngsters had to come back after playing attacking shots, when there was no need to play.
‘Available’ – Kevin Pietersen expresses desire to be India’s batting coach
Amidst all these reports that the BCCI is looking for a new batting coach, Kevin Pietersen wants to take over the role. Reacting to the reports on Twitter, he wrote: “Available”.
Available!
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) January 16, 2025
Available!
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) January 16, 2025
Kevin Pietersen was one of the best batsmen to play for England in Tests
Kevin Pietersen was undoubtedly one of the best batsmen to play for the English national cricket team. He scored 8181 runs at an average of 47.28 in 104 Tests in which he played for the team to go with 23 centuries, the third highest for the Three Lions in Tests.
While his batting numbers speak for themselves, the former England international cricketer does not have any coaching expertise at the top level. However, if he is hired as batting coach, it will be a big step in Indian cricket.
Currently, the Indian coaching staff consists of Morne Morkel (bowling coach), Abhishek Nayar (assistant coach), Ryan ten Doeschate (assistant coach) and T Dilip (fielding coach) apart from head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Also read: ICC Champions Trophy 2025: KL Rahul sidelined as two wicketkeepers selected for CT
