Dhaka: Bangladesh has appointed former India all-rounder Sridharan Sriram as a technical consultant for the national team till the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan, however, rejected reports that Sriram has been roped in a the coach of the national team. "We had Sriram shortlisted and he is to come here on 21st (August). He is definitely not coming as head coach. He is coming as a technical consultant. He is coming here to work up till the T20 World Cup," Hassan told reporters on Friday.
The T20 World Cup will hosted by Australia from October 16 to November 13. The BCB top official said the 46-year-old Indian's vast coaching experience with the Australian team and IPL side Royal Challengers Bangalore influenced the board to rope him for the short stint.
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"Certain things were in consideration while taking him onboard. One is his IPL involvement and we wanted someone who is involved in high-grade T20 cricket and has experience. The World Cup is also in Australia and he has worked in Australia for a long time. For these two reasons, he was taken in as a technical consultant," Hassan said.
Sriram represented India in eight ODIs between 2000 and 2004 and also served as Australia's assistant and spin-bowling coach for a long time. It was under former Australian coach Darren Lehmann, Sriram was entrusted with the responsibility as a spin bowling coach in 2016. He recently stepped down from that position to focus on his role with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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Hassan, however, said a long-term tenure for Sriram will be decided after the assessing his performance in the Asia Cup, which starts next week. "In terms of making things separate (splitting the coaching responsibilities), it is preferred that we will make the coaching staff separate too. But we can't say anything at the moment since we haven't decided who to take onboard.
"We have to see Sriram in the Asia Cup and then decide according to performances whether we will keep him or look for someone else," he said.
PTI
