Paddy Upton has joined the Indian men’s cricket team’s support staff in the West Indies as the mental conditioning coach, ahead of the Men’s T20 World Cup later this year.
Earlier between 2008 and 2011, Upton was part of India’s support staff as assistant to the then head coach Gary Kirsten.
As per reports, Upton’s appointment has been done on the recommendation of head coach Rahul Dravid. The pair have worked together previously, in early 2010s during the latter’s playing career and subsequently at Rajasthan Royals and the erstwhile Delhi Daredevils, where they served as mentor and coach respectively.
Upton has also served as Performance Director of the South Africa team and later as head coach on the T20 circuit with stints at Sydney Thunder (BBL) and Lahore Qalandars (PSL) besides his role in the IPL.
Most recently, he served as the ‘Team Catalyst’ at Rajasthan Royals, who reached their first IPL final since the 2008 season.
The Indian team has a five-match T20I assignment agaisnt hosts West Indies before they play a short ODI series in Zimbabwe, the Asia Cup in August before subsequent white-ball assignments at home against Australia and South Africa.