Sanjay Bangar: All you need to know about Indian Cricket Team's head coach for the Zimbabwe tour

Sanjay Bangar is a former Indian cricketer who represented India in Test Cricket and One Day International Cricket. He was an all-rounder who played for India from 2001 to 2004 and was named India’s batting coach after a humiliating Test series defeat to England in 2014. He was a part of the Indian Cricket Team that took part and reached the final of the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup.

The Indian all-rounder played for the now defunct India Premier League franchise Deccan Chargers in the inaugural season in 2008, before playing for another IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders the following season. He announced his retirement from cricket in 2013, after a career that lasted over 20 years. He was named as the coach for the Indian Cricket Team for the Zimbabwe tour in June 2016.

Here are 10 things to know about the all-rounder:

1) He was a very versatile player

Bangar as a batsman was a floater for the team as he could bat at any number from opening the innings to playing at Number 7.

2) The first game he witnessed was in 1983

The first game that Bangar watched was in 1983 when India won their first World Cup under then captain Kapil Dev. He watched the game on a neighbour’s television while sitting on a staircase.

3) He made his First-Class Cricket debut in December 1993

The Maharashtra born cricketer made his First-Class debut for Railways against Vidarbha, where he scored 45 abd 16 in the two innings, but failed to take a wicket in the match. He played only one game in the whole debut season but made his mark in the coming seasons.

4) He scored his first Test century in a match where Tendulkar also scored a ton

Bangar scored a century in the same stadium where he made his First-Class debut. He scored an unbeaten century playing at number 7 in an innings where Sachin Tendulkar and Shiv Sunder Das had also scored centuries.

5) He was crucial in the Headingley test match where he opened with Dravid

The former Indian all-rounder opened the innings with Rahul Dravid where he set up a 170 run partnership after scoring 68. This partnership helped Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar to notch centuries and help India win the match.

6) He was India’s lucky charm

India never lost any of the 12 test matches that Bangar was a part of other than the last two test matches in New Zealand. India also won two matches at Leeds and Port of Spain during his time in the squad.

7) He was named as captain of the Railways team

In the 2004-05 season, Bangar was named as captain of the Railways team in the Ranji Trophy and led them to the title that season.

8) He has coached a lot of different teams already

Sanjay Bangar coached the India A team, before moving on to Kochi Tuskers Kerala as batting coach in 2010. He was also named as assistant coach of the Kings XI Punjab franchise in the 2014 IPL season, where Punjab lost in the finals to his former team KKR. He was named as India’s batting coach in 2014 after their dismal performance against England before being named as the coach for the Zimbabwe tour in June.

9) He is the only cricketer other than Vijay Hazare to achieve a Ranji-double of 6000 runs and 200 wickets

Sanjay Bangar’s brilliant all-round performances in the Ranji Trophy make him the only cricketer apart from Hazare to score 6000 runs and take 200 wickets.

10) He is the first Indian to coach the team since 2000

India have not had an India coach since 2000 when Kapil Dev was the coach of the team from 1999-2000. Since then, the BCCI have hired only non-Indians like John Wright, Greg Chappell, Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher, while Ravi Shastri was the director of the team and not the coach.