New Delhi, May 27 (IANS) Ahead of the five-match Test tour of England, T. Dilip has been restored as the fielding coach of the Indian men’s cricket team. Dilip, who was brought into the national set-up in November 2021 when Rahul Dravid was the head coach and given an extension till March this year, had been removed from the team’s support staff last month.

The Hyderabad-based Dilip has now been handed a one-year contract. “There had been talks going on for the last few days that Dilip could be back in the Indian team, which was initially surprising. But now the confirmation is there of him being reinstated in the Indian team and Dilip will now be with the coaching staff on the important Test tour of England,” said sources aware of the development to IANS on Tuesday.

Dilip had become a popular figure through the videos posted on BCCI’s social media accounts for handing out medals to the best fielder of the match, a trend which began from the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup at home. That trend grew in popularity when India had victorious campaigns in the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Before joining the Indian team, Dilip served as a fielding coach at the National Cricket Academy (now called BCCI Centre of Excellence) in Bengaluru and held the same role with the India ‘A’ team for over a year. Dilip’s coaching career began by working with all age groups and the first-class team in the Hyderabad set-up.

In the Indian team, Dilip worked with both experienced stalwarts and younger players, resulting in the team’s catching and fielding standards going up. In England, overcast skies and strong winds mean the Indian slip fielding cordon must be alert to catch many edges coming their way.

India’s Test series against England will take place from June 20 to August 4, with Headingley, Edgbaston, Lord’s, Old Trafford and The Oval being the venues. India are aiming to win a Test series in England for the first time since 2007.

India will also play a game against India ‘A’ at Beckenham from June 13-16. Before that, nine players of the Test team will turn out for India ‘A’. The ‘A’ team, captained by Abhimanyu Easwaran and coached by Hrishikesh Kanitkar, will play two matches against England Lions – the first of which begins on May 30 at St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury.

–IANS

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