For Aussies, a case of Jai Sriram!

Subhash Rajta

Tribune News Service

pune, february 24

There’s an Indian hand behind India’s spectacular collapse on Friday. And the man to be blamed for pushing the hosts into a corner is former India opener and left-arm spinner Sridharan Sriram. The Tamil Nadu stalwart has been working with the Australian team as their spin consultant for close to two years now and is said to have played a pretty crucial part in preparing the Australians for the India tour during their preparatory camp in Dubai.

While one could only guess about the role he has been playing behind the scenes, the man made a massive and visible difference on Friday. Before destroying the Indian batting in the post lunch session, Steve O’Keefe not just went wicketless in his pre-lunch spell but also failed to trouble the batsmen.

Comfort zone

So, what changed post lunch that he suddenly became unplayable? Well, Sriram took him out to the middle during the lunch break and helped him adjust his length to suit the turning wicket. “When I started to bowl my first six overs, I think I went probably back to my comfort zone, which is what I bowl in Australia. It was just probably going a bit over the top and whenever I was trying to bowl quick, it was too full,” said O’Keefe. “Sri was like ‘let’s go out and bowl till you feel comfortable with it and then hit it on’.”

And that little session worked like magic for O’Keefe. “I think, Sri is an excellent spin-bowling coach. I’ve worked with him a couple of times now and he’s really impressive, so that’s really helped me I think,” said O’Keefe, showering generous praise on Sriram.

The left-arm spinner, who made his debut at 32, was ecstatic about making an impression on the very first outing in India, against some of the best players of spin. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I think it will if that contributes in a win,” he said. “Right now, we’ve had a good day but that’s all it is. We know how good this Indian side is, so we have our work cut out for us.”

As for the wicket, which the Indian head coach Anil Kumble called challenging, the left-arm spinner said it was what they had been expecting, and what they had trained for during their camp in Dubai. “We got a hang of a similar wicket in Dubai. So it wasn’t a shock, it was exactly what we were expecting. You’re not going to come over here and see green, lush wickets. You’re going to see dry and flat wickets. So we’re expecting it,” he said. 

In Dubai, Sriram helped the Aussies  simulate the Indian conditions and prepare them mentally as well as skill-wise to handle India spinners.