Ex-Australia coach reveals being blasted by David Warner in team meeting after issuing 'Ravichandran Ashwin' warning

Sridharan Sriram, the former India all-rounder worked with Australia and David Warner in one of his coaching stints. He started his coaching career with domestic teams like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Goa, Assam, and Himachal Pradesh. He was also part of Delhi Daredevils' IPL squad in 2011.

After his stint with the Australian A team, he landed a coaching role with Australia with Darren Lehmann as the head coach of the side. Sridharan Sriram worked as the spin bowling coach and helped David Warner get a hang of Ravichandran Ashwin.

Ashwin dismissed Warner 11 times in Test cricket. Meanwhile, Sriram in a recent conversation on YO Mahesh's YouTube channel, opened up on his early days in the Australian setup, including a brutally honest conversation with David Warner.

"In my first interaction with David Warner, I said, 'In Asia, in Test matches (only Tests, I'm not talking about white-ball), if you cannot step out and play or play the sweep, you are a sitting duck. Ashwin will get you out 10 times in 10 innings," said Sriram.

He then recollected how David Warner did not take his suggestion seriously at first and was offended by his words.

"He got offended. In the team meeting, he blasted me saying, 'I'm such a successful IPL batsman, he's saying I can't make runs, etc. At that point the coach, Darren Lehmann, defended me. He said to Warner, 'If what he's saying is useful to you take it, otherwise leave it. But don't do all this in public.' He was still annoyed and kind of said, 'No I'm such a successful player, I can't change my game.' So I left it at that," Sriram said further.

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On Australia's 2016-17 tour to India, Warner was dismissed to spin six times in the Test series thrice falling to Ashwin in that series. Sriram then recalled how Warner went back to his previous conversation during Australia's tour of Bangladesh. The coach then went on to praise Warner's ability to retain and subsequently recall the conversation that they had almost a year ago.

Sridharan Sriram Lauds David Warner's Ability As Batter In Test Cricket

"This is the quality of the great man he is. He brought up this conversation eight months later, telling me, 'You told me back then, but I understand the value of it only now. I'm always beside the line and in white-ball cricket I wait for when I can play the cut. I get just a bit of width, and I will cut. The ball tends to slide on more. But here [in Test cricket], one ball spins and one slides on, and I always have a bat-pad gap. So I have to find a way [around this]," said Sriram.

David Warner retired from ODI cricket after the ODI World Cup. He retired from Test cricket after Australia whitewashed Pakistan in a three-match Test series earlier this year and retired from T20I cricket after the T20 World Cup 2024. He is now retired from international cricket but he said that he is open to coming back and play the ICC Champions Trophy if the team needs him.

Warner started out as a white-ball specialist and transformed his game brilliantly to become a top Test batter. He retired from Test cricket with 8786 runs at an average of 44.60 with 26 hundreds and 37 fifties. He scored 1218 runs against India in the format with four hundreds and three fifties in 21 Test matches.

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