Former Indian fielding coach R. Sridhar has been appointed as the assistant coach of the Afghanistan national cricket team. The 54-year-old is set to join the team for the upcoming international matches against New Zealand and South Africa. 

In September, Afghanistan will host a one-off Test against New Zealand and a three-match ODI series against South Africa. The only Test against New Zealand will be played at Greater Noida. Meanwhile, Sharjah will host the three-match day/night ODI series between Afghanistan and South Africa. 

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ACB is looking for a long-term contract with R. Sridhar

In the official statement, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has also added that the board is hoping for a long-term contract with R. Sridhar in the future. Sridhar will work under the head coach Jonathan Trott. 

Ramakrishnan Sridhar, popularly known as R. Sridhar, played domestic cricket for Hyderabad between 1989/90 and 2000/01 seasons. The left-arm spinner played 35 first-class matches and 15 List A games. However, Sridhar is highly popular as a fielding and bowling coach. 

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R. Sridhar has a strong coaching resume

Sridhar has a Level-3 certificate in coaching. After coaching the Hyderabad junior teams, Sridhar served as a fielding coach and assistant coach of the India U19 cricket team. 

During Team India’s preparatory camp for the ICC World Cup 2011, Sridhar worked at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore. 

Sridhar worked with the Indian men’s national cricket team as a fielding coach for more than 300 international matches. He served the Indian team as a fielding coach in two ODI World Cups and two T20 World Cups. 

Sridhar was the fielding coach of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) during the IPL 2014. Later, he also served as the spin bowling coach of KXIP. Sridhar was also the head coach of Indian domestic teams Andhra and Tripura.

Sridhar also coached the California Knights in 2023 during the US Masters T10 tournament.