HYDERABAD: The Hyderabadi flair to the mega World T20 cricket championship canvas is all too evident. If the men’s event have six from the city in the backdrop, the women’s gala sport three in the forefront. The ICC World Twenty20, which started on Tuesday will end on April 3.
While former secretary of the Hyderabad Cricket Association and captain Maturi Venkat Sridhar is the man with the baton as tournament director, his namesake Ramakrishnan Sridhar is the fielding coach of the Indian team. Another person though directly not involved in the scheme of things, but as commentator is former India star “Very Very Special” (VVS) Laxman. There is a fourth Hyderabadi in Shamsuddin who is one of the umpires and Vikram Man Singh completes the list as liaison manager for the West Indies team.
Mithali Raj will be at the helm of the Indian women’s team. Another Hyderabadi woman and former Indian captain Purnima Rau will be at hand as the coach. Both had recently joined together and displayed their acumen to help India score a historic T20 Series over world champions Australia down under. The world event will be a new challenge and both are up for the task. The third city woman in the scheme of things is video analyst Aarti Nagle. Sridhar, popular known as Doc, is in the hot seat as tournament director. Appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the 49-year-old is not new to this type of job but this is certainly a different challenge. The former Hyderabad Ranji captain and who is now the manager of cricket operations for BCCI, has the experience of a World Cup when he worked as event management systems for the 2010 FIFA tournament in South Africa. “That experience will come in handy for me in this World Cup. But this will be a different cup of tea as I will be directly involved in conducting this tournament,’’ he said.
Sridhar’s hands are already full much before the start of the tournament as the Pakistan crisis has taken the sheen off the World Cup. Being an experienced and seasoned administrator, his former teammates like Kanwaljit Singh are confident of Sridhar solving the issue. ”He showed his acumen during the Monkeygate issue on India’s tour of Australia in 2007-08 when as media manager he defused a tense situation. He has the ability to stand up to the challenges,’’ he said.
His namesake Sridhar has grown in stature as fielding coach of the Indian team ever since he replaced Australian Trevor Penny in 2014. The former Ranji left-arm spinner who has been appreciated for his work has already been a part of the Indian team in 2012 under-19 World Cup and the last year’s World Cup in Australia. His latest outing was the just concluded Asia Cup in Bangladesh.
The stylish Laxman always had the regret of not playing in shorter format World Cup during his playing days, but he has got the opportunity to express his views as a commentator now, a new vocation in which he has come a long way. “It is a new role. I will be among the elite group of broadcasters. It is a good feeling to meet and talk alongside some great cricketers,’’ said the 41-year-old.
Shamsuddin will officiate as an umpire in at least five matches of this edition. This 45-year-old has worked his way to the top as an efficient official. Vikram Man Singh is following in the footsteps of his illustrious father PR Man Singh, who was Indian team manager of the famous 1983 Kapil Dev-led Indian team. He has been entrusted with the liason work with the West Indies team.
Riding on India’s success when the women’s team made history by beating Australia in Australia, Mithali Raj would be hoping to continue with that winning streak. India’s best batter thinks this T20 World Cup in India is a platform to promote women’s cricket. “There is a feel-good factor after our win in Australia. A lot of people have followed us on television. If we continue with the same show in the World Cup, it will do a lot of good for the development of Indian women’s cricket.’’ The 33-year-old skipper said her team is eager to perform. “They are energetic and hungry for results. This team has evolved into a good fighting unit,’’ she said. There will be Hyderabadi another in Purnima Rau, who will handle the coach’s job. Rau, who was herself a former Indian captain, has quietly taken up the role as coach beautifully. She is happy with the way the team has jelled as a winning unit. “They are daring cricketers and I think this World Cup could be the turning point of women’s cricket in India.’’