Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has roped in Paddy Upton as mental conditioning coach to put an end to India's inability to win an International Cricket Council (ICC) title since Champions Trophy 2013. Upton was part of India's support staff when India ended the 28-year-drought and won the World Cup 2011 under head coach Gary Kirsten and the leadership of MS Dhoni.
Upton has already joined the Indian squad ahead of the five-T20I series against West Indies which will start on July 29.
Apparently, he has been added to the support staff on the recommendation of current head coach Rahul Dravid. The two have worked together for Rajasthan Royals (RR) before Dravid retired from Indian Premier League (IPL) followed by another stint at Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals).
Upton's most recent IPL stint was with Sanju Samson-led RR. He worked as ‘Team Catalyst’ with head coach Kumar Sangakkara and helped Royals reach their first IPL final since the inaugural edition where they emerged as champions.
He has worked with Big Bash League (BBL) franchise Sydney Thunder, Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Lahore Qalandars and as Performance Director of South African side which later led to the head coach role.
Team India will travel to Zimbabwe after the Caribbean tour followed by Asia Cup and limited-overs series against Australia and South Africa at home.
Some of the players that Upton has worked with during his three-year stint with Team India (between 2008-2011) are former skipper Virat Kohli, current skipper Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Yuzvendra Chahal and Prasidh Krishna have worked with Upton as well at RR.
It is understood that Upton might hold some sessions with team's premier batter Kohli, whose prolonged lean patch has led to calls of him being dropped from the shortest format.
"It is great that someone like Paddy has again joined the Indian team. If you look at Virat's batting, he isn't always looking out of form and may be it's all in the mind. And who better than Paddy to clear the cobwebs," a former India player, who has worked with Upton, said.
