England recruits Vidarbha's Ambatkar as support staff

This time Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) is not hosting any ICC World Cup match but it has a connection with the ongoing global event as its former junior cricketer Saurabh Ambatkar has been recruited as support staff for his bowling skills by the Jos Buttler led England 2023 World Cup squad.

Ambatkar who had played age group cricket for Vidarbha and Mumbai is giving his services as a throwdown specialist to the England players. Right arm Ambatkar is ambidextrous and offers a unique variety in his bowling. His inclusion in the training support staff is expected to prepare the England team in facing the significant number of left-arm seamers whom they will encounter over the next seven weeks in India.

Talking to Lokmat Times Ambatkar, who basically belongs to Wani in Yavatmal district, said he was training English batsmen to face left arm bowlers too. "They realized I have the advantage of being able to bowl with my left arm too and as there are a number of left arm pacers in the WC like Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi, New Zealand's Trent Boult and Australian Mitchell Starc, I guess I would be useful too," he said.

It may be mentioned here that during the last World Cup held in England, the English batsmen had some weaknesses against left-arm pacers. As per stats, they had lost nine wickets to Jason Behrendorff and Mitchell Starc in their defeat to Australia at Lord's. Ambatkar's inclusion will help them build on their skills in Indian conditions.

Ambatkar has been part of the support staff at Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL in recent seasons. England head coach and former New Zealand batsman Brendon McCulum is also the coach of the KKR franchise. Therefore, he is well aware of Ambatkar's specialty. Ambatkar has also worked alongside England team manager Wayne Bentley, who performs the same role at KKR. “Both the coach and manager put my profile before the management of the England team and finally they decided to recruit me. I will travel with the team throughout the World Cup”, he said.

Ambatkar had also worked as throwdown specialist for the Indian team that toured Sri Lanka in 2021 under the leadership of Shikhar Dhawan for limited overs series.

Role of throwdown specialist

Over the years the demand for throwdown specialists has increased. The throwarm device has become ubiquitous in the professional game over the last decade and is used extensively by coaches. The main job of a throwdown specialist is to throw the ball at batsmen from a shorter distance in the nets. They don't have a long runup and their action too is highly curtailed. However, their skill lies in achieving pace even without the full runup, often just standing and "throwing" the ball with a powerful jerk action. Batsmen read the "throw" and adapt.