Sriram takes charge as Kings XI bowling coach

Venkatesh Prasad, the team's bowling coach last season, says he has not heard anything from the franchise about his removal, nor has he stepped down.

Sridharan Sriram (right), Australia's spin bowling consultant.

Kings XI Punjab is witnessing a major overhaul, as far as coaching staff is concerned. A couple of days after Virender Sehwag quit as the mentor of the side, the Mohali-based franchise now has roped in Sridharan Sriram as the bowling coach.

While Sriram, who was the assistant coach at the Delhi Daredevils, and the spin bowling coach of Australia, took to social media to announce his new move, there is still not much clarity over the future of Venkatesh Prasad, who took charge as the bowling coach last season.

While there were speculations that Prasad has stepped down, the former India pacer told  Sportstar  that it is a ‘rumour’. “I haven’t heard anything from the franchise on this yet. There are no plans as such,” Prasad said.

Read: Kirsten replaces Vettori as RCB coach

"(Ravichandran) Ashwin being the captain, we share a fantastic rapport. We have worked together for long and the thought process is similar. A captain and bowling coach rapport augurs well for the franchise,” Prasad, who quit as the chairman of junior national selection committee last year to take up Kings XI job, said.

The franchise, however, has not come out with an official version yet on whether Prasad has called it quits or has he been replaced. But this publication has reliably learnt that the franchise might soon officially inform Prasad about its final decision. The plan to bring in Sriram has been taken by the franchise after consulting with the team’s new coach, Mike Hesson.

Prasanna Agoram, the Technical Strategy Analyst at Cricket South Africa (CSA), has also been roped in by the franchise as its high-performance coach.

Agoram is supposed to have played a huge role in South Africa's transition to becoming one of the toughest teams to beat in international cricket.

After starting on a high last season, Kings XI had a meltdown in the second leg and crashed out of the league, failing to reach the knock-outs. That had led to speculations that the side could undergo some changes and it was evident as it brought in New Zealand’s Mike Hesson as the chief coach for the season. The former New Zealand coach, who quit the national team earlier this year, was in the country last week to sign the deal.