Indian team to get new support staff members

After Nitin Patel’s resignation as the physiotherapist in May this year, Patrick Farhart will replace him to join the Indian team in Sri Lanka in August. Farhart is one of the three additions to the support staff, with Shankar Basu and Arun Kanade being appointed as the strength and conditioning expert and masseur, respectively, according to ESPNcricinfo reports.

While Kanade assumed responsibility in Zimbabwe earlier in the month, the three will be on the board at least until next year. Farhart and Basu will take charge in Sri Lanka, where the three-match Test series begins on August 12.

The Australian has almost three decades of professional experience and was the physiotherapist for the Sydney Sixers and Kings XI Punjab franchises for the last couple of years.

Basu will come in as a replacement for VP Sudarshan, who was the trainer of the team for the last two years. He is also currently the trainer for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Kanade will be the second full-time masseur of the Indian team after Ramesh Mane, who was the member of the support staff for the last decade.

This will be quite a new Indian side after Duncan Fletcher’s exit and Dhoni’s retirement, with the coaching staff now headed by Ravi Shastri and the team by Virat Kohli.