From Dravid to Ponting: Sairaj Bahutule joins Punjab Kings before IPL 2026

Head Coach: Ricky Ponting
Assistant Coach: Brad Haddin
Fast Bowling Coach: James Hopes
Spin Bowling Coach: Sairaj Bahutule (replaces Sunil Joshi)
Assistant Bowling Coach: Trevor Gonsalves

9 hours ago 23

Punjab Kings (PBKS) has appointed former India cricketer and experienced coach Sairaj Bahutule as their new spin bowling coach before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. Sunil Joshi, who held the role from 2023 to 2025, had left PBKS earlier this month to become the new bowling coach at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.

Fascinatingly, Bahutule also served as the bowling coach at CoE. He held the position from November 2021 to January 2025 but left to join former National Cricket Academy (now CoE) head Rahul Dravid at the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Punjab Kings’ new spin bowling coach

But after just one season, he has parted ways with RR and joined PBKS. Perhaps Dravid’s departure from Rajasthan’s coaching staff is the reason behind this franchise change for Bahutule. But he’s in outstanding company again, as he’ll be working alongside another legend of the sport, Ricky Ponting, who’s PBKS head coach.

Coming to his coaching experience, Bahutule worked with Kerala in 2014 and Bengal in 2015. He was with RR from 2018 to 2021 as well. He was the head coach of the India Emerging Team, which won the Asia Cup, and he was Team India’s bowling coach in the last two Under-19 World Cups.

“I’m really excited to join Punjab Kings as a spin bowling coach for the upcoming IPL season. This is a team that plays a different brand of cricket, and I can see the potential is massive. They have a bunch of talented players, and I’m looking forward to working with them to refine their skills and help them reach new heights,” Bahutule said after joining PBKS.