ACA’s goal-directed move

By roping in Mohammed Kaif and Ramakrishna Sridhar, the ACA hopes to pump in the much-needed vigour in Andhra Ranji team

August 22, 2014 05:41 pm | Updated 05:41 pm IST - Vijayawada

NEW HOPE Ramakrishna Sridhar Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam

NEW HOPE Ramakrishna Sridhar Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam

Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) Director and former India International stumper M.S.K. Prasad made two crucial decisions this season. One - he brought in 33-year-old Mohammed Kaif, the popular Indian ODI player from Uttar Pradesh as skipper of Andhra Ranji team and two, he made the Indian junior coach and IPL franchisee King’s XI Punjab fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar as the head coach of the Ranji team.

Knowing fully well that after spending crores of rupees on infrastructure it was time ACA showed results on the pitch, Prasad took a calculated gamble by roping in the two professionals to infuse “some order” in the team.

Andhra Ranji team has been performing poorly for the past couple of seasons and many felt a thorough overhaul was needed. In the second phase of last season, ACA selectors dropped some senior players to pack the team with more youngsters and much to the satisfaction of the administrators, they did well to prove the importance of “fresh legs” in the team.

The decision to appoint Sridhar proved to be spot on when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sought services of the 44-year-old Hyderabadi as fielding coach for the Indian ODI team at London after the poor Test performance.

“In one way he silenced his critics who felt that he made a wrong choice by selecting Sridhar for the crucial head coach post. Now that the BCCI itself has appointed him for the one-day series as the field coach, he stands vindicated,” feels a senior administrator.

Prasad says Sridhar’s interaction with Indian star players in the ODI series will help Andhra Ranji team as he can share his experiences to bolster the morale and confidence of the players.

He says the focus would be on fitness as the present Andhra team is full of youngsters. “Both Kaif and Sridhar are die-hard fitness freaks and they are most certain to bring in a new perspective to fielding in particular and over-all performance in general,” he adds.

The bane of the Andhra team, which is in the Group C, has always been inconsistency and both batsman and bowlers caved in under pressure and fatigue at crucial moments of the season. The Ranji season begins from January 2015 and there is ample time to groom the players for the challenge.

Known for his shrewd man management and unflinching dedication,Sridhar wants to make cricket a happy indulgence for the youngsters. “I want the youngsters to enjoy their game. They should play the game without fear and doubt. I want a healthy atmosphere in the dressing room”.

Sridhar and Kaif had a brief eight-day camp at Anantapur before taking off to take part in the on-going Butchi Babu tournament at Chennai, a valuable pre-season tourney for Andhra team.

“I want players to stay grounded. Only your performance should speak and do not give importance to frills and thrills. Always carry a fresh mind and prepare for a hard grind,” says Kaif, who, after a gap of six months, has picked his willow and plunged head-on to give Andhra a meaningful season.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.