Surendra Bhave appointed Odisha men’s head coach

Surendra Bhave, the domestic stalwart, has been appointed as Odisha men’s head coach for the forthcoming domestic season. Bhave will thus return as a First Class coach after a two-year break.

The Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) on Wednesday evening made an official announcement of Bhave’s appointment for “the 2024-25 domestic season” following an extensive procedure by its Cricket Advisory Committee.

Bhave, a Maharashtra opening batter, tallied 7,971 runs in 97 First Class appearances at an enviable average of 58.18 before retiring in 2000-01. Besides representing India A for a SAARC tourney in 1992-93, Bhave also led Maharashtra to a rare appearance in a Ranji Trophy final in the same season.

He was a member of India’s national selection panel during its triumphant run in the 2011 World Cup.

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“I am excited for the new role and a new challenge. It’s a talented bunch and I am looking forward to sharing my experience with them. The fact that we will be able to start preparing early will be of a lot of help,” Bhave told Sportstar from Pune, his hometown.

Bhave will spend a couple of days in Bhubaneswar later in the week before taking charge at the National Cricket Academy’s zonal off-season under-19 camp at Nadiad. He will formally join Odisha in June after fulfilling his NCA commitments.

This will be his fifth stint and fourth team as a senior men’s head coach in domestic cricket. Besides his two stints with Maharashtra, including in 2013-14 when Maharashtra made it to the Ranji final, he has been at the helm of affairs at Haryana and Punjab.

Since his last stint with Punjab, which saw Punjab losing the Ranji quarterfinal to eventual champion Madhya Pradesh in 2021-22, Bhave has been looking after various coaching centres in and around Pune and has been involved in NCA’s off-season activities.