Australia hire Monty Panesar as spin consultant for India Test tour

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SYDNEY: Cricket Australia announced on Tuesday that former Indian bowler Sriram Sridharan will work with Australia as a “spin consultant” on their upcoming tour of India.

Sridharan played eight ODIs for India and toured with Australian squads in Sri Lanka and India last year.

“He [Sridharan] knows our players very well and has a wealth of knowledge on the conditions that our players will face in India,” said team performance manager Pat Howard.

Australia has named four spinners in the squad to take on top-ranked India in the series that begins in Pune on February 23. Uncapped Mitchell Swepson, 23, joins Nathan Lyon, Ashton Agar and Steve O’Keefe.

Monty Panesar, the former England spinner, who played three Test tours of India for 28 wickets, has also been recruited by Australia to impart his knowledge of subcontinent pitches.

Panesar, who was one of England’s 2012 winning tourists in India, will spend a week in Brisbane with the Australians as they seek to bolster their chances of winning their first match in India since 2004.