Australia expected to tour Pakistan without a specialist spin coach

Australia are expected to travel for the Test tour to the subcontinent without a specialist spin coach or consultant for the very first time in nearly a decade. It is learnt that assistant coach Sridharan Sriram, who had been with the team since 2016, will not be accompanying the team to Pakistan this time.

A Cricket Australia (CA) spokesperson meanwhile has said to Cricbuzz that they've been in talks with former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori to take up the role on an interim basis. But with only a few days left for the team to depart for the historic tour, it seems uncertain that a deal can be cracked in time. However, it was in 2013 when they last travelled without a specialist in their support staff to India and were clean swept by a 4-0 margin as well.

However, this is not the first time that Australia have approached Vettori, who has already the experience of coaching in plenty of T20 leagues around the world and in The Hundred as well. Vettori's last international assignment was with the Bangladesh national team as their spin bowling coach between 2019 and 2021.

Meanwhile, it's also learnt that CA had already discussed a few other names locally who have played specific roles with the spinners at preparatory or pre-season camps and during home series as well but nothing worked out.

On the other hand, Sriram, who had played ODIs for India in the early 2000s, has been part of the Australian coaching staff in a full-time capacity over the last few years. Australia had lost 2-0 to Pakistan in the UAE soon after the defeat in India. And, with these six straight losses in Asia, CA started thinking of adding some subcontinental expertise to their coaching staff as well.

Sriram, however, started as a consultant initially who'd accompany the team on their Asian campaigns, which included the 2018 tour to the UAE, before being included to the coaching setup later that year as well. He was part of the Ashes series in England in 2019 and has also been there for three home summers. He is still contracted to CA and is likely to join the team when they travel to Sri Lanka in June.

However, it will be interesting to see how Australia will perform amid this situation.