India tour of New Zealand: Munish Bali appointed as fielding coach for the Indian team for NZ series
In a recent development, Munish Bali has been named as the fielding coach for India's limited-overs tour of New Zealand. He will be a part of the support staff headed by VVS Laxman.
The decision comes after the Rahul Dravid-led support staff was given a break post the T20 World Cup campaign in Australia. Laxman will be the head coach on the tour beginning November 18 in Wellington, where India is slated to play three T20s and as many ODIs.
Munish Bali, Hrishikesh Kanitkar (batting coach) and Sairaj Bahutule (bowling coach) will be part of the support staff in New Zealand. All three coaches are currently based at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) which is currently headed by Laxman.
Previously, Munish Bali and Hrishikesh Kanitkar were also part of the Indian setup in Ireland and briefly in England earlier this year prior to the home series against South Africa.
"All three will assist Laxman in New Zealand," said a BCCI official.
India's squad has some interesting additions and exclusions for the upcoming NZ and Bangladesh tours
Hardik Pandya will bestow the captaincy reins for the T20 leg against the Kiwis while Shikhar Dhawan will lead the charge during the ODIs. Rohit Sharma will return as the skipper during India's tour to Bangladesh after the culmination of the New Zealand series.
Some of the notable moves involved were the inclusion of Umran Malik in both the limited-overs squads against New Zealand.
Ravindra Jadeja is also expected to make his return from injury as the BCCI included his name in the squad for the Bangladesh tour.
Pacer Yash Dayal earned his maiden call-up for the ODIs against Bangladesh, while Prithvi Shaw was once again ignored.
Some surprising exclusions were those of Hanuma Vihari from the Test squad against Bangladesh and of wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik from all the squads.
Instead of Karthik, the selectors opted for Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson as their wicketkeeping options.