Sridharan Sriram returns to Bangladesh set-up as their technical consultant

Dhaka, Sep 21 (IANS) Former India left-arm spinner Sridharan Sriram has returned to the Bangladesh set-up as the side’s technical consultant for the upcoming Men’s ODI World Cup. Sriram had been with the Bangladesh team in this role from August 22 till last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, Sriram, who played eight ODIs for India, will be joining the Bangladesh team in Guwahati on September 27, ahead of the two warm-up matches before the main tournament begins. Sriram had earlier been a spin-bowling coach for the Australia men’s side for six years.

"Sriram has joined as the technical consultant. We will get a lot of technical support from him. He knows all the wickets in India. He can tell us about the weather conditions too. Very few of our players have played in India, so his input will be quite important," Jalal Yunus, BCB's cricket operations chairman, was quoted as saying in the report.

Under Sriram’s tutelage, Bangladesh won two games in the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup and were in contention for a semi-final spot till their last group match. Post the ending of the tournament, he left the Bangladesh set-up, which he has re-joined ahead of ODI World Cup and will be reporting to team director Khaled Mahmud.

Sriram was recently seen as a commentator for Asia Cup broadcast on Star Sports Tamil, joined IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants as their assistant coach, after being previously with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

Apart from him and Mahmud, Bangladesh's backroom staff includes head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, assistant coach Nic Pothas, fast-bowling coach Allan Donald, spin-bowling coach Rangana Herath, fielding coach Shane McDermott, and assistant fielding coach Faisal Hossain.

Bangladesh will open its 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup campaign against Afghanistan at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on October 7, followed by facing defending champions England at the same venue on October 10.