Australia bank on Sriram to counter Rangana Herath

The Australians have adopted a unique tactic to counter Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath ahead of the Test series beginning against Sri Lanka next month. Former India ODI all-rounder S. Sriram, who is a spin consultant with Cricket Australia, is helping Australian spinners and batsmen to prepare for subcontinental conditions and is striving to imitate Herath from the bowling crease.

Sriram, who played eight ODIs for India and has been on board with CA over the past 12 months, and Herath happen to be of similar height and build. Aussie spinner Steve O’Keefe, who worked closely with the Indian during ‘Spin Week’ at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane last week, even light-heartedly took to calling him “Rangana” at times during their net sessions.

However, Sriram knows that imitating a man of Herath’s quality is no mean feat. “I’m going to try (to bowl like him)” Sriram told cricket.com.au.

“He does have 300 Test wickets to be fair to him. “The release and the angle may be similar, so it might help them acclimatise and we can talk to them about what he looks to do, give them an idea of what to expect. “He’s got very clever changes of pace. He’s accurate, he bowls the one that comes in (to the right-hander) and the one that goes away, so he threatens your pad as well as your outside edge and that puts the batsman in doubt of where to play, he’s thinking, ‘Where am I going to play ’ “That’s his greatest strength.”

O’Keefe, who is looking to fight his way back into the XI in conditions where selectors are a realistic chance of playing two spinners, says Sriram has been influential on his development in his time with CA. “You can’t underestimate having someone who has that subcontinental experience,” he said cricket.com.au.

“And like with any coach, it’s the way it’s delivered to you – they have to know how to speak to you. “He’s a good coach in general, but being a top-order batter and a guy who bowls a bit of spin, his knowledge is sort of second to none. “I know personally he’s had a huge impact on my game, but speaking to the batters as well, I know they’re huge fans of him and fortunately he’ll be coming away on the next tour.

“Listening to him talk, some of the misconceptions that we’ve got about (playing on the subcontinent), he can shed some light on that — sometimes it’s the reverse of what we think. So just having those conversations and challenging us is a healthy thing – he’ll be a guy who we bounce ideas off in the lead-up to and during matches.”