Former spinner Raju appointed coach for Americas Combine

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday announced that former Indian left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju would be part of the coaching team for the ICC Americas Cricket Combine to be held in Indianapolis from September 18 to 27.

Around 100 best players within the region will take part in the Combine, following which an ICC Americas representative team will be selected to play in the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) Nagico Super 50 tournament during January 2016. The best performing players could then receive an opportunity to try for the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

"Raju has had a long and distinguished career as an international player, selector, coach and administrator, and is now an important member of the ICC's development team," ICC's Head of Global Development, Tim Anderson said in a statement.

"It's therefore great that he is able to assist this important project in the America's region, in what is an example of the integrated approach the ICC is now taking to assist cricket's global development."

In an international career spanning 11 years, Raju played 28 Tests and 53 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), including the World Cups in 1992 and 1996.

Since retiring from international cricket he has been an Indian national team selector, head coach and vice president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association, and most recently a development officer for the Asia region of the ICC's development programme.

Raju joins a high profile coaching panel for the Combine which also includes West Indies great Courtney Walsh and internationally renowned American fielding coach Mike Young.

The Combine will be coordinated by ICC Americas high performance consultant Tom Evans, and will also include six coaches from Associate and Affiliate member countries within the ICC Americas Region.

During his career Raju also played league cricket in the USA.

"I played for a couple of seasons, mainly in the Washington and New Jersey areas, and therefore have already seen first-hand the talent that exists in the Americas Region," he said.