I’ve let the boys know about Sran: Smith

He may be an unknown entity in international cricket but Barinder Sran is not quite unfamiliar to Australian captain Steve Smith, who says the rookie pacer has impressive variations in his armoury and was discussed in the dressing room. “I haven’t seen much of Sran’s one-day cricket back home in India, but I saw him bowling in the IPL with Rajasthan Royals and he was quite impressive. He’s a tall lad, swings the ball early and he’s got a few change-ups I’ve let the boys know about them,” said Smith of his IPL teammate on the eve of the first of five-match ODI series starting here on Tuesday.

India could opt to hand their left-arm seamer Sran a debut, while Gurkeerat Mann and Rishi Dhawan wait in the wings. Thanks to his half-century in the warm-up match on Saturday, Manish Pandey looks set to bat at number five on Tuesday. “I know some of the young guys that are going to get an opportunity through IPL the likes of Manish Pandey, who I think has progressed really well and played some good cricket of late. And obviously the experience of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma in the top order they are pretty crucial wickets for us, and hopefully we can get them early,” Clarke said.