R Sridhar appointed as Afghanistan's assistant coach for New Zealand, South Africa series

One of the renowned faces from the Indian team’s coaching setup, R Sridhar has joined the Afghanistan team as an Assistant Coach. His short stay would be until Afghanistan completes a one-off Test against New Zealand and a three-match ODI series against South Africa. It is worth noting that the 55-year-old was part of the Indian team as a fielding coach in more than 300 matches. 

Sridhar was featured as the fielding coach of the Indian team in two ICC ODI World Cups and two T20 World Cups. Moreover, he has also been part of the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) as bowling coach from 2014 to 2017. Speaking of his playing career, he has played 35 first-class and 15 List-A matches for India in domestic cricket. He then worked under India’s Head Coaches, Duncan Fletcher, Anil Kumble, and Ravi Shastri as fielding coach.

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The veteran is a level-3 certified coach and has also coached the Indian U19 national team as an assistant coach and spin bowling coach. He held the same responsibilities at the National Cricket Academy from 2008 to 2014. The Karnataka-born would be the second Indian after Ajay Jadeja to associate with the Afghanistan cricket team. Jadeja was roped in as a mentor of the team ahead of World Cup 2023. 

After coaching the Indian team from 2014 to 2021, a career that spanned seven years and four months, Sridhar started his coaching institute in January 2022 in Hyderabad. He has also written a book on his coaching journey with the national team, title 'Coaching Beyond - My Days with the Indian Cricket Team.' It is worth noting that, Sridhar replaced former England cricketer, Trevor Penney as the fielding coach of India. Penney had held the position from 2011 to 2014.