Sriram Krishnamurthy Head Coach Super Kings Academy

Exactly a decade ago this section featured a story on the opportunity for the ruling management at the TNCA to grab the services of Sriram Krishnamurthy, then a young 26 year old high performance coach who was passionate about TN cricket and wanted to make a difference here (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2012/05/high-performance-coaching-is-tnca.html?m=1).  His services were not sought then and with a tinge of sadness, he went around the cricketing world coaching in Australia, England and New Zealand for 10 years. In June this year, this section featured a story just ahead of the TNPL on how success with the Madurai team could elicit interest in TN and get him back to his home state that he has all along been longing for. In the league phase that he was here just ahead of the New Zealand pre-season practice, he helped the Madurai team win all at sight in the TNPL with the team racing through to the knock outs (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/06/sriram-krishnamurthy-high-performance.html). He headed back to the Kiwi land just ahead of the knock out phase. And soon he had the Super Kings Academy knocking on his doors. Very quickly, Sriram's coaching model resonated well with George John, the operations head at Super Kings Academy responsible for its expansion and they( the academy) did not have to look too far and have signed him up. Sriram has just been appointed as the Head Coach of Super Kings Academy, a coveted role especially with the academy planning mega national expansion over the next five years (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/10/super-kings-academy-mega-expansion-plans.html).

Sriram will be responsible for establishing a consistent cricket program, leading and mentoring the coaches at the Super Kings Academy. He is particularly pleased with the fact that the academy is handing him a free reign “They literally said it's your baby - which is exciting  to have that kind of freedom in coaching. At the same time, it puts a lot of responsibility on me” Sriram told this writer from Hamilton. Even in 2012, Sriram had looked at coaching as one of responsibility and not  of power.

When the TNCA did not elicit interest in his services a decade ago, Sriram went to Australia and coached teams at the state level in Victoria and South Australia. On the invitation of The English and Wales Cricket Board, he was involved in a High Performance Coaching related work ahead of the 2010-11 Ashes. In 2015, he moved to New Zealand starting out as the U19 coach at Cricket Wellington and five years later became the batting coach of the Wellington Firebirds, one of the six first class teams in the country. At Wellington, Sriram had played a key role in the transformation of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra into international cricketers. In recent years, as the coach of Northern Districts, he has been working with the Who's Who of NZ cricket including Williamson, Southee, Boult, Sodhi, Wagner, De Grandhomme and Santner.

Only recently, Sriram had been offered the prestigious coaching role of the New Zealand’s National Women’s team but he did not take it up. While he was well settled in the Kiwi Land, his heart had always been in Madras and in every conversation with this writer over the last decade, he had expressed interest to return to Madras and make a difference to TN cricket. With his long overseas stint coming to an end in a couple of months, Sriram looks back with great delight on his engagement with the Kiwis "By nature, the  Kiwis are very kind. To me, they  have been a very helpful lot. When I was looking for financial stability, Cricket Wellington directed me to Taita CC as an additional engagement that served me well and kept me going in those initial years. Dave (Gillespie) immediately got my wife a job soon after her arrival in New Zealand. And that made a big difference to our lives on the financial front. My engagement with Rachin and Devon has been like one of family and we constantly discussed cricket and ways to improve."

International umpire Madanagopal led Grand Slam to a surprise first division championship with Sriram playing an important role in the middle order that year. Madan was the one who gave Sriram the 1st division break well over a decade ago. He has high words of praise for Sriram’s team spirit “I found Sriram to be a remarkable team man. He was hard working, committed and had a positive impact on players and people around him. What was particularly impressive of him in that phase was that he was a very composed individual and a captain’s delight."

Madan says that he is confident that Sriram will now be a player’s delight as a coach. "He strongly believes in understanding the player and his requirements and gives his best in helping and facilitating that to help the player to achieve his true potential."

In a competitive world where one finds 'win at all cost' approach from many of the modern day cricketers, Sriram has a certain old world charm about him and a bit of sparkling innocence that one does not find enough these days. RBI middle order bat and off spinner from the 1980s NS Ramesh has known Sriram from his childhood days as his amma was a colleague at RBI. He is happy that Sriram has been able to maintain that innocence within him “Sriram has always been a very sweet chap with a streak of innocence. Like his mother, Sriram is sincere in whatever he does.”

Sriram helped former first division cricketer turned coach Guru Kedarnath find his feet in Australia just under a decade ago. Kedar recalls Sriram from the school days “we played against each other in the schools tourneys and together for city at the age group level. It was when he coached us at Aruna CC that I came to know him well. The most standout feature in him is that he is genuine and honest in his engagement.”

Sriram will be reaching Madras in January and starting mid Jan will get down to try and make a difference to the next generation of cricketers. He told this writer on Saturday morning (Kiwi time) that he is excited with the prospect of coaching in Madras "I am excited with this opportunity that India Cements has provided me but this is also a huge responsibility.  While this can give me a good break from coaching elite teams and having had to deal with the constant stress and pressure of winning and losing matches (performance), it is an even bigger responsibility now - as this role gives me the ability to influence and shape the way the academy can function, putting and taking an approach where there is balance in these young kids lives, making them understand how to get the best out of themselves not just within cricket, but beyond it."

Having known him for over a decade, it would not be a surprise if he creates the next Conways and Ravindras of TN cricket in the coming years.