Team India can be considered the most dominant team in the present time, only if we keep aside the luck factor of repetitively missing out on trophies and titles even after making it to the playoffs of every multiple-team event over the past decade. Team India’s support staff is probably one of the best, and it reflects in the performance of the team. However, it is not just the players who make a team perfect. The players on the field are a unit of the entire team India which comprises the coaches and the support staff.  

Other than the senior coach Rahul Dravid, there is a set of talented professionals, who came together from different verticals of life and not from cricket but ended up in the dressing room of Team India. 

Here’s a list of the people associated with Team India as the support staff.

Paras Mhambrey (Bowling Coach)

Paras Mhambrey, who represented India for a very short period in 1996, secured a coaching diploma from NCA. He coached Bengal and took them to the finals of the Ranji Trophy after 16 years. Having coached Mumbai Indians for four years, he worked with Dravid as the bowling coach of India A and U19 teams of India. According to IE’s report, Mhambrey prefers to stick with the data and analytics and mixes data with coaching manuals. He also vouched for Shami over Arshdeep, Avesh Khan or Shivam Mavi, despite his absence from the ODI format.

Vikram Rathour (Batting Coach)

The batting coach of the team, Vikram Rathour had a short-lived career with Team India as a player, appearing for only 6 tests and 7 ODIs. He has coached Punjab and Himachal in domestic cricket and joined team India after the previous World Cup. Since then, he has emphasised an aggressive approach to batting in the team. He is not into changing the technique of the batsmen, but prefers one-on-one sessions with the players, and never shies away from giving tips to the players. 

T Dilip (Fielding Coach)

The fielding coach of India was a former Math teacher. T Dilip never played cricket professionally. However, he was passionate about coaching. According to the Indian Express, he worked in age-group academies in Hyderabad, before getting a chance to work with Deccan Chargers. At Deccan Chargers, he worked with coach Mike Young.

Having zero playing experience, he enrolled on a coaching programme at NCA. He took Maths classes to manage his finances during this period. Later on, he became a regular at the NCA Zonals and annual camps, during which he grabbed the attention of Rahul Dravid. Dravid picked him up to coach the national team. 

Dilip can be credited to help KL Rahul enhance his wicketkeeping skills, which helped the Indian team in the absence of Rishabh Pant. 

Soham Desai (Strength and Conditioning)

A mountaineer by profession, Soham Desai started a S&C coach for Gujarat Ranji side between 2014-2016. He later worked under Shankar Babu, former S&C coach in Chennai. Soham joined the revamped S&C programme of NCA, and spent four years there. Later he was promoted to the Indian team as the assistant S&C coach. He took over the position from Nick Webb. 

S Rajnikanth (Rehab)

S Rajnikanth is the go-to person for cricketers in rehab. Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Shreyas Iyer were the recent names who underwent his consultation, and recovered perfectly to make a comeback. Initially, He was not associated with the NCA, but still the players went to seek his help. He is now onboard with the Indian Cricket team.

Hari Prasad Mohan (Video and Data Analyst)

Hari Prasad Mohan completed his Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, and switched to Sportsmechanics. He is associated with the Indian team since 2000. As a backroom staff, he has spent hours studying footage before becoming a part of the Tamil Nadu Ranji team. He replaced CKM Dhananjay as the Analyst for team India after 2019 World Cup. 

Rishikesh Upadhyaya (Logistics)

A school friend of the Current Sports Minister and former BCCI President Anurag Thakur, Rishikesh Upadhyaya is the manager of Logistics for the Indian team since 2015. He takes care of the travel tickets, match tickets, equipment, uniforms and families of the Indian cricketers. 

Arun Kanade (Aches)

Kanade replaced the famous Ramesh Mane, and takes care of the muscles of the team members. He has great terms with all the players, and ensures they are completely fit to go before and during the game. 

Rajeev Kumar (Muscle Doctor)

Rajeev Kumar is the doctor who takes care of the fitness of cricket players and helps them loosen their muscles. He is an integral part of the support staff, and takes care of the fast bowlers of the team. 

Raghavindraa Dvgi (throwdown expert)

Raghavindraa, aka Raghu, is the senior-most training assistant. He works as the throwdown expert and helps batsmen face fast bowling. According to Virat Kohli, his throwdown drills have helped Team India play fast bowlers better. 

Nuwan Seniviratne (Ex-school bus driver)

The Sri Lankan national, Nuwan was a domestic player in Sri Lanka, who couldn’t make much out of cricket back at home. He started working as a school bus driver to meet ends. However, today he is the main reason behind India’s overcoming the fear of left-arm fast bowling. He joined in 2017 and has been a part of the support staff since then.