BCCI picks Subramaniam as Indian cricket team’s manager

Former Tamil Nadu leftarm spinner Sunil Subramaniam was on Friday appointed as the administrative manager of the Indian cricket team for a one- year tenure.

Subramaniam, who is best known as Ravichandran Ashwin’s childhood coach, will join the team before the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, starting August 3.

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Friday appointed former First Class cricketer Mr. Sunil Subramanian as the Administrative Manager of Team India (Senior Men),” a BCCI statement said. “He will be contracted for a oneyear term and join Team India in Sri Lanka before the start of second Test.”

Subramaniam, who played 74 matches for Assam and Tamil Nadu has taken 285 wickets apart from scoring 1096 runs.

Interestingly, the BCCI has decided against appointing managers of India A and India U-19 teams for the time being.

“At one point of time Arman Malik was said to be in the running to be appointed India A manager and the choice for India U-19 manager was between Prakash Bhatt and Shankar Saini.

“However, Malik does not qualify as he does not have a single first class match against his name. Later it was decided that since India A and U-19 teams do not have as many series as the senior team, there is no need to appoint a full time manager. BCCI can depute somebody from its administration to perform the duty as and when required,” a BCCI official told PTI.

Subramaniam’s claim to fame has been as the coach who taught Ashwin the tricks of the trade regarding off-spin bowling.

Subramaniam also captained Tamil Nadu in Ranji Trophy and is a National Cricket Academy (NCA) certified coach.

“He also has a rich vein of experience when it comes to management and administrative capabilities having served both public and private sector organisations for over 16 years,” the BCCI statement added.