The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has hired Paddy Upton as the mental conditioning coach for Team India. The 53-year-old from South Africa is expected to begin working immediately and will fly to the Caribbean where India are currently facing West Indies in limited overs cricket. Paddy will begin his tenure from the five-match T20I series between the two sides that begins on July 29.
His current contract with the BCCI will run until the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November and his appointment is said to be primarily made in order to get effective results for the showpiece World Cup event.
“Rahul Dravid (Indian team head coach) proposed his name to the BCCI and accordingly, Upton has been added to the support staff to help the team prepare for the T20 World Cup,” a top BCCI official told.
This is not Paddy Upton’s first venture with the Indian national team. He was part of Gary Kirsten’s backroom staff and was handpicked by the South African legend. Upton was involved in the setup that saw India winning the 2011 World Cup on home soil.
During his first stint with the side between 2008 and 2011, he performed the dual roles of both mental conditioning coach as well as strategic leadership coach. He is said to have developed a wonderful rapport and working relationship with several Indian players during that time period, which also involves his understanding with Rahul Dravid, the current head coach of the senior national team.
India had also managed to reach the upper echelons of the ICC Test tree during that period under Gary Kirsten, Rahul Dravid and Paddy Upton. Dravid has also worked alongside Upton as a coach in the Indian Premier League where the duo was involved with Rajasthan Royals.
India haven’t won an ICC trophy since the Champions Trophy conquest in 2013. Last year’s campaign in the T20 World Cup in UAE ended as soon as it began. Having lost their first two matches against Pakistan and New Zealand, the Men in Blue went home after the very first round.
Understandably, BCCI is leaving no stone unturned in their attempts to help the team secure an ICC trophy. Former Indian captain MS Dhoni had also travelled with the Indian contingent to UAE as team mentor during the T20 World Cup.
