West Indian batting maestro Alvin Kallicharan is set to be the mentor of the Puducherry team for the forthcoming domestic season while Indian pace bowler R Vinay Kumar is expected to join the team as a guest player.
Former batsman of the Karnataka side, J Arun Kumar has been announced head coach while D Rohit has been named as captain across all formats.
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Kallicharan, an elegant left-handed batsman, featured in as many as 66 Test Matches and 31 One Day Internationals for the West Indies side and was also part of the great West Indian side that went on to win the inaugural World Cup in 1975.
“Kallicharan will mentor the men’s and women’s teams in all categories in Puducherry. His presence will inspire cricketers here and hope they will benefit by picking his brains,” a Cricket Association of Pondicherry (CAP) official was quoted as saying by PTI.
“Vinay Kumar is set to join the Puducherry team after the conclusion of the Karnataka Premier League,” added the official.
Apart from Vinay Kumar, cricketers like former Tamil Nadu batsman KB Arun Karthik and Himachal Pradesh’s Paras Dogra have also been named as guest players.
The Puducherry side will participate in the Vizzy Trophy as part of their pre-season preparations.
Notably, Vinay Kumar has featured for India in as many as one Test, 31 One Day Internationals and has led the Karnataka Ranji team to two successive titles in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.