When India takes the field against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday (September 10) at the Dubai International Stadium, they will come up against a familiar foe as the home team is coached by Lalchand Rajput, who is not just an Indian but also a key part of the Indian cricket fraternity.
Rajput has been the head coach of the UAE team since February 2024 and was in charge of the Muhammed Waseem-led side in the 2024 Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Premier Cup, which they won to qualify for the Asia Cup after a gap of nine years.
Who Is Lalchand Rajput?
Rajput, a product of the famed Mumbai cricket system, was a stalwart of the Indian domestic system and one of the finest openers in the set-up. He played a total of 110 first-class games and scored 7988 runs at an average of 49.30, in which he made 20 centuries.
Rajput also played two Test matches for India in 1985 against Sri Lanka, in which he also managed to make one half-century. He played four ODI games between 1985 and 1987.
However, it is through the coaching sphere, that he made a name for himself. He entered the system after being named as India’s U-19 coach for a tour of England in 2007.
Later during the period when India were without a head coach post Greg Chappell’s tenue ending in 2007 and Gary Kirsten’s appointment in 2008, Rajput was named as the manager of the team, which was for all practical purposes a temporary head coach role.
The MS Dhoni-led Indian team stunned the odds and won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007. Later, he also took charge of the team for the tour of Australia, where he was praised in his role during the Monkeygate controversy during the Test series before helping India seal a historic triumph in the 2008 CB Series.
Rajput later joined the Mumbai Indians (MI) as their head coach in the first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) season in 2008.
Rajput took charge of the Afghanistan cricket team as head coach in 2016 after replacing Inzamam-Ul-Haq and stayed in the job for a year.
He was Zimbabwe’s head coach for almost four years from 2018 to 2022 before taking up the UAE job last year.