England made a major move by signing India’s sidearm specialist, Saurabh Ambatkar for the ODI World Cup 2023 to help them gear up for the left-arm fast bowling in the World Cup. The sidearm basically is a device that resembles a dog thrower and has become an undeniable part of the Cricket game over the last decade & is widely used by coaches in England’s training sessions.
England’s coaching staff present in India comprises Head Coach Matthew Mott & his assistants Marcus Trescothick (batting), Carl Hopkinson (fielding), Richard Dawson (spin bowling) and David Saker (seam bowling). However, to reduce the workload on their main coaches, England will employ Saurabh Ambatkar who has played age-group cricket for Mumbai and Vidarbha, throughout the 2023 ODI World Cup.
The prolific sidearm specialist has already joined England’s squad in Guwahati last week and will travel with the touring party throughout the tournament. While Mott & his assistants are skilled with right-arm throwing, Ambatkar has the skill of throwing the ball with his left arm which adds variety & enables England to face the significant number of left-arm seamers whom they will encounter over the next seven weeks in India.
Saurabh Ambatkar will aim to improve England’s caliber against left-arm seamers
Coming to Ambatkar, he has been a part of KKR support staff in the recent seasons of IPL. He has also coached for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in UAE’s ILT20. Ambatkar has worked alongside England team manager Wayne Bentley, who performs the same role at KKR. Almost four years back, England batters were perceived to have a weakness against left-arm seam after they lost nine wickets to Jason Behrendorff and Mitchell Starc in their defeat to Australia at Lord’s at the 2019 World Cup. England lost 20 wickets to left-arm seamers at that World Cup but also ended up scoring 6.07 runs per over against them, the fastest rate of any team.
They will aim to come up against a similar kind of left-arm seamer attack when they come in front of Trent Boult in their opening game against New Zealand. Boult has scalped eight wickets in two appearances against England last month and is expected to take the new ball on Thursday evening. Along with Ambatkar, England has also enlisted a local massage therapist for the World Cup 2023. Mahesh Aarya will join their medical team, supporting Mark Saxby, physio Craig de Weyman, strength and conditioning coach Andy Mitchell, and team doctor Rob Young.
England is traveling from Guwahati to Ahmedabad on Tuesday afternoon for their opening game against New Zealand on Thursday, October 5. They will begin their training on Wednesday night just before the tournament starts on Thursday.
Also read, IND v NEP: India qualifies for Asian Games 2023 Semi-finals
