After batting, bowling and fielding coaches, Team India today unveiled a new spin ‘coach’. Actually, that was national selector Venkatapathy Raju spending over an hour with rookie left-armer Rajesh Pawar in the indoor nets.

Asked to chip in by the team’s bowling coach and his former India teammate Venkatesh Prasad, who is now the side’s nets in-charge, Raju spent over an hour with Mumbai’s Pawar, drilling into him the importance of running in closer to the wickets to get the line and angle just right — curving into off and middle and turning away.

According to Raju, it’s for the first time since he became selector last year that he has been asked by the team management to help out in the nets. “It felt good to help. But please don’t call this a coaching session or anything. I am just trying to help out after Venky asked me to,” said Raju, who played 28 Tests for India, falling seven short of the 100-wicket mark.

Raju first talked for a while with Pawar, then set a corridor of sorts by placing a plastic bottle near the stumps, and asking the 27-year-old to run in through the narrow gap and bowl. Finally, the Hyderabadi, who reached here two days ago with East Zone colleague Ranjib Biswal, picked up the ball and started looping them in himself — quite nicely, too.

Looking on were Raju’s statemate VVS Laxman, fielding coach Robin Singh and Yuvraj Singh. “I retired just three years ago, so why don’t I bowl myself?” Raju joked later, patting his flat stomach.