KKR Team Members (Source: AFP Photos)A winner of two IPL titles joined India A as a head coach for the upcoming series against Australia A, to be held in Pondicherry between September 22 and October 11. There will be two Tests and three ODIs for which he will be in charge of India A.This will be the first time the two-time IPL winner, as reported by the Press Trust Of India (PTI), will have a major assignment as the head coach of India A, or any side which represents the country.Lakshmipathy Balaji Named India A Head CoachPTI broke the news that the BCCI identified Lakshmipathy Balaji as India A’s head coach for the Australia A series. Balaji, who won IPL 2010 with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and IPL 2012 with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will take the helm.Earlier, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Sitanshu Kotak held the head coach roles for India A.In other news, Vipraj Nigam, who joined India’s Asian Games 2026 squad as Varun Chakaravarthy's replacement, will be replaced by T Vijay, an off-spinner from Andhra Pradesh."L Balaji is India A head coach for the upcoming Australia A series in Puducherry. Andhra offie T Vijay has replaced Vipraj Nigam in India A side," PTI Journalist Kushan Sarkar tweeted on social media on Sunday.To help CSK win the IPL 2010 title under MS Dhoni, Balaji picked up seven wickets in seven matches at an economy rate of 8.87. For KKR under Gautam Gambhir, he claimed 11 wickets in eight matches at just 5.40.Lakshmipathy Balaji IPL TeamsApart from CSK and KKR, Balaji played for Punjab Kings (PBKS). Interestingly, they too reached the final when Balaji was with them, in IPL 2014, only to be lost to his former side KKR in the final.Balaji began his IPL career in the inaugural edition of the competition, and IPL 2014 was his last season. Over the course of the period, he took 76 wickets in 73 matches at an economy rate of 8.04.Not to forget, Balaji later joined both KKR and CSK as their bowling coach. He coached KKR in IPL 2017, and he served CSK from 2018 to 2022.Who Will Balaji Coach In India A Squad?Under Balaji, there will be plenty of India A stars against Australia A. While Devdutt Padikkal will lead the multi-day matches, Ruturaj Gaikwad will captain India A in One-Day matches.Besides, Priyansh Arya, Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar or even Hardik Pandya will be there as well, along with the likes of Kumar Kushagra, Nishant Sindhu, Tanush Kotian and Aman Mokhade.As Balaji’s expertise lies in fast bowlers, the focus will be particularly on Tushar Deshpande, Anshul Kamboj, Praful Hinge, Arshad Khan, Gurjapneet Singh, and Yash Thakur whenever they get an opportunity to shine in the India A vs Australia A series.Also Read: Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson To Miss England's T20I Series Vs Australia; Reason Revealed
