Chennai: In every sense, it is the beginning of a second innings for former India and Tamil Nadu cricketer S. Sriram. The 39-year-old southpaw, in the span of three months, has once again been named a consultant for the Australian team alongside legendary Aussie batsman Mike Hussey for the upcoming World T20 in India.
Sriram was earlier roped in as a consultant by Cricket Australia for the tour to Bangladesh in September after the Chennai man’s inputs helped the visiting Australia ‘A’ side beat India ‘A’ in a two-match unofficial Test series.
As it turned out, Australia’s sojourn in Bangladesh never kicked off because of security reasons and Sriram had to bide for his time. He knew his chance would come.
“I was sure I would be in the reckoning during Australia’s next trip to the sub-continent. Darren (Lehmann) had told me that they would contact me prior to the World T20 and I’m glad to have got an opportunity to work with the Australian team,” said Sriram, who will be joining the Aussies on February 28 ahead of their three-match T20 series against South Africa.
Sriram said the opportunity to work with Hussey would be a great learning curve. “We have played against each other at the U-19 level quite often and he has visited my academy in Chennai. We share a good understanding.
“I think Hussey would be concentrating on finishing-off games. My focus would be on how to go about batting against spinners and the zones to bowl on spinning tracks. I believe we will make for an exciting combination,” he added. Sriram is yet to have one-on-one sessions with Lehmann and the Aussie skipper, Steve Smith: “I haven’t yet spoken to Lehmann or Smith. But prior to the Bangladesh series, I had exchanged a couple of emails with both of them. I would be happy to contribute to this team and will be glad if Australia go on to win their first World T20 title.”
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