Ex-India fielding coach R Sridhar to conduct 10-day specialised programme for Sri Lankan cricketers

Colombo, May 6 (IANS) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced that former India fielding coach R Sridhar will conduct a comprehensive 10-day fielding programme for men’s and women’s national squads to elevate the fielding standards.

SLC said that the specialised program will commence on May 7 and will involve men’s and women’s national squads, emerging squads, premier club players, the National U19 team, and the Women’s ‘A’ team as well.

The former India fielding coach will begin the program with the Sri Lanka National Men’s team and subsequently train other squads, where he will conduct fielding drills, skill-specific training and simulated match scenarios, to replicate game conditions.

He will work closely with the national, high-performance and club coaches during his 10-day stint at Sri Lanka Cricket.

Sridhar is a former left-arm spinner who played for Hyderabad in the Indian domestic circuit in the 1990s. He began his coaching career in 2001 and went on to work at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, with the India Under-19s at the 2014 World Cup. He also served as spin bowling coach of Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) at the IPL, leading up to his long stint with India's senior side.

Sridhar, a BCCI Level 3 qualified coach, served as India’s fielding coach across more than 300 international matches from 2014 to 2021, which includes two ODI and T20I World Cup editions each.

Last year, Sridhar was named Afghanistan men’s cricket team’s assistant coach for the side’s one-off Test match against New Zealand in Noida and the three-match ODI series against South Africa in September.

This is not the first instance SLC invited foreign coaches to lead short training programmes. In 2024, they brought in Zubin Bharucha, the Rajasthan Royals' high-performance director, to help improve batting skills. They had also brought in former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram for a short bowling programme and ex-South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes to work on fielding.

--IANS

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