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All doors aren’t closed for Sriram: Mahmud

  • Sports Correspondent
  • 8 February, 2023 12:00 AM
  • Print news

A Bangladesh Cricket Board official said on Tuesday that all doors are not closed for their former T20 technical consultant Sridharan Sriram.

Since the appointment of Chandika Hathurusingha as an across-format head coach of the Tigers, there is a rumour floating around in the country’s cricketing fraternity that there is hardly any possibility for Sriram to make a return to the national team set-up.

The former Indian all-rounder replaced Russell Domingo in the T20I set-up before the T20 Asia Cup in UAE and also guided Bangladesh in the last edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.

Sriram came to Dhaka to meet the BCB high-ups during the first phase of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League but both parties could not agree to any terms and conditions that would pave the way for Sriram to make a return to the national team dressing room.

“As far as I know he (Sriram) still has a chance (to make a comeback in the national dressing room). I’m a bit unaware of the recent developments due to BPL. I had a talk (with Sriram) and he must be having some demand and we want him to come,” Bangladesh Technical Director Khaled Mahmud told reporters in Mirpur.

“Let’s see how much time he can give and in what capacity and it is a big thing. But till now, all the doors are not closed for him (Sriram).

“He (Sriram) is expected to talk with Papon (BCB boss Nazmul Hassan) bhai and I don’t know anything apart from that,” he said, adding that both Hathurusingha and Sriram have the same coaching philosophy.

“Obviously every coach has a different philosophy...But I feel that Sri and Hathu are mirror images of each other. I have worked with both and held discussions. Obviously, there is room for different philosophies but both are attacking-minded and positive as coaches.

 “Of course, there is the thing that Hathu will be given time to build the side since he has been handed the head coach role. I don’t think it will be very difficult,” he said.

Mahmud added that he had already spoken with Hathurusingha and told him that they want to have some local coaches in the national team dressing room and the former Sri Lankan batsman agreed to the proposal.

“I have a good relationship with Hathu and I have already talked to him over the phone and there was a brief discussion on the matter. He is very positive and he wanted a big team management unit with local coaching staff included so that when the team goes out of the country, the other players get them for practice,” he concluded.