Andhra bring in ex-veteran Mumbai batter Vinit Indulkar as batting coach

Andhra have recently gone ahead and roped in ex-Mumbai batter Vinit Indulkar in the capacity of their batting coach. This comes just a day after they recruited the globally acclaimed coach Gary Stead as the head of their support staff. Indulkar linked up with the team in Mysore on Sunday, September 14.

Andhra are currently featuring in the KSCA Invitational tournament in the city of Mysore. Although Indulkar refused to elaborate on his fresh assignment and commented that he will only provide further details when the formalities and paperwork is done with, a highly-trusted official of the Andhra Cricket Association confirmed that Indulkar had already been integrated into the unit.

Indulkar, now 41, was previously Mumbai's batting coach until last season. The Mumbai Cricket Association recently opted on parting ways with him, brining in Bravish Shetty in his place. The ACA representative expressed that the administrative body was pleased in including Indulkar with them. 

"He was one of the key members of Mumbai's support staff last season when Mumbai reached the Ranji [Trophy] semifinals and won the [Syed] Mushtaq Ali tournament," stated the Andhra official, as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Speaking of Indulkar's domestic career, he featured in 43 First-Class, 32 List A and 18 T20s in a career spanning 16 years between 2004 and 2020. He averaged 36.25 and 37.62 in the red and white-ball arenas, respectively. He was also a part of Kolkata Knight Riders' camp in the Indian Premier League.

Coming to the appointment of Stead, former Chairperson of the India's Senior Selection Committee MSK Prasad predicted Stead's appointment as a 'game-changer for Andhra cricket'.

"A good decision by the Andhra Cricket Association. It should be a game-changer for Andhra cricket. The state has always had an abundance of talent but needed direction. The players may not be very expressive, but having Gary, with his humble background in New Zealand, will be a perfect blend for the Andhra setup," commented Prasad.

Stead comes in with solid credentials associated with his name. He has previously coached New Zealand to the World Test Championship title and three-limited-overs finals as far as global events are concerned.