Meyrick Pringle appointed Rajasthan bowling coach

Rajasthan have appointed Meyrick Pringle, the former South Africa fast bowler, as bowling coach for the remainder of their Ranji Trophy campaign. It is understood that the Rajasthan selectors were concerned about the form of their bowling attack and wanted to utilise the services of Pringle, who was already in Jaipur, coaching at a private academy. The Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) executive board agreed and Pringle joined the squad on Sunday.

"Our batting has been doing fine but our bowlers have not been performing to the desired level," an RCA official told ESPNcricinfo. "So we thought we could make use of the experience of Pringle, who was a very good bowler for South Africa and also has coaching experience."

Of prime importance for the new selection committee, which was appointed immediately after a new administration took over after the 2011 IPL, is that they keep the Elite Group berth the team earned by reaching the knockouts and then winning the Ranji Trophy last year.

"As defending champions we wanted to retain the Elite status as well as make the knockouts once again this year. For that we need to bowl sides out. The strength of our bowling department is our fast bowlers but they need proper guidance," the official said.

Rajasthan are currently second from bottom in Group A, with just four points from four games. They have three matches left in the group stages, against Punjab, Saurashtra and Orissa.

Pringle played four Tests and 17 ODIs for South Africa between 1992 and 1995. He was part of their 1992 World Cup squad, which reached the semi-finals, and is best known for his performance of 4 for 11 against West Indies in a group match in that tournament. He later had coaching stints with both Netherlands and Namibia. Pringle has been roped in mainly to provide technical expertise to Rajasthan's young seamers: Pankaj Singh, Deepak Chahar, Sumit Mathur and Aniket Choudhary.