The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced the appointment of Ramakrishnan Sridhar as an assistant coach to the men's senior team on Wednesday. Afghanistan named the former Indian first-class cricketer and national team fielding coach as an assistant coach to Jonathan Trott for the upcoming assignments against New Zealand and South Africa.
The 54-year-old Sridhar played for Hyderabad in domestic cricket and famously held a fielding coach role during Ravi Shastri's reign as the head coach of the national team till 2021. Sridhar also held head coach roles with Andhra and Tripura state teams and was a fielding coach for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.
The ACB confirmed that Sridhar will join Jonathan Trott-led coaching staff but only for a one-off Test against New Zealand in Noida starting on September 9 and for the three ODIs against South Africa in Sharjah from September 18. However, the statement added that the possibility of a permanent role for the Indian cricketer in the future.
"Sridhar is a Level-3 certified coach who has served the Indian U19 national team as Assistant Coach and Spin Bowling Coach too," the ACB media release said. "From 2008 to 2014, Sridhar served India’s National Cricket Academy as an assistant fielding and spin bowling coach.
"It is worth mentioning that the Afghanistan Cricket Board has appointed Sridhar as the assistant coach for the one-off Test against New Zealand and the 3-match ODI series against South Africa. The Afghanistan Cricket Board wish Sridhar to fill the role effectively and hopes to have a long-term contract with him in the future."
Afghanistan will be playing their first-ever red-ball cricket match against New Zealand with India's Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground playing as a host venue. Afghanistan previously played five ODIs in 2017 and six T20I matches in 2020 in Greater Noida but the venue is set to host its first-ever Test match.
