‘Why should I listen to you?’ – Former India fielding coach reveals his first conversation with Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin (Image Credit: Twitter)
Former India fielding coach R Sridhar started his journey with the Men In Blue in 2014. This was his first coaching stint with an international side. Before this, he had the experience of coaching India U19, Punjab in the Indian T20 League, etc. Meanwhile, his stint with the India Cricket Team didn’t start on an expected note.
In his new book, he revealed that Ravichandran Ashwin didn’t get along well with him in the early days. The former Hyderabad spinner revealed that Ashwin thought Sridhar would be with the team for only three years and that his teachings might be not useful after the latter’s exit. Sridhar added that Ashwin wanted to make sure he was taught something which was meant for him 100 percent.
“Being with Ashwin, I was struck by one of our early conversations in my first week with the national team,” says Sridhar in his autobiography ‘Coaching Beyond – My Days with the Indian Cricket Team’.
“Non-confrontationally, he asked me, ‘If you don’t mind, Sridhar sir, why should I listen to you and follow the fielding drills you suggest? Why should I do what you are asking me to? From 2011 to 2014, we had Trevor Penney as the fielding coach. Now you have come in, you will be there for let’s say two to three years. You will say something; you will go a way. Then a new fielding coach will come. If I am honest, in the next three years, I have a lot at stake. I should be convinced that what you are saying is going to work for me. It should help my game, otherwise why should I listen to you?’”
I immediately got what Ravichandran Ashwin was trying to convey: R Sridhar
“We knew each other quite well by then, and I immediately got where he was coming from. His questions set me thinking: how much should I coach? What is coaching really?” Sridhar says.
