Reports: Ashish Nehra in line to be India's next bowling coach

Veteran left-arm fast bowler Ashish Nehra is the top contender for the job of India's bowling coach as reported by the Hindu. The 37-year old, who recently returned to the national side as a part of the T20I team, might just have sneaked ahead of former team-mate Zaheer Khan in the race for the role.

Prior to the tour of Zimbabwe in June this year, the BCCI will be looking to renew the contracts of Sanjay Bangar and Bharath Arun as batting and bowling coach respectively. However, despite the commendable job done by Arun, there are high chances that Nehra will be considered for assuming the responsibility going forward.

The primary motive behind this move may be the intention to help out the Indian fast bowlers improve on their game. Ever since the left-armer has come back to the Team India fold, he has been playing the role of an on-field mentor for bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah.

Recently, one of Nehra's fellow fast bowlers in the Sunrisers Hyderabad team, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, had heaped praises on him for mentoring the younger bowlers in the side. Such feedback from other experienced campaigners only goes to show the kind of impact that he has been making behind the scenes.

Ashish Nehra has also done a commendable job in terms of his bowling performance in the past few months for the Indian team. The veteran bowler provided early breakthroughs in several matches which allowed skipper MS Dhoni take control over the match very quickly.

Considering that Nehra has not been part of the Test and ODI squads, roping him in as bowling coach will allow him to connect with bowlers who represent India in the longer formats. His valuable inputs may have a considerable impact, especially when the team is touring to other cricketing nations.

The Indian bowlers have been doing a decent job over the past few months. However, with someone like Ashish Nehra as a bowling coach, they may be able to plug some of the gaps which have been hampering their performance.