India vs Australia ODI series: David Saker to replace Darren Lehmann as coach

David Saker will share Australian chief coach Darren Lehmann’s workload on long overseas tours like the one in India right now

David Saker will fill in as chief coach when Australia tour India for a seven-match ODI series in October this year. Darren Lehmann is currently Australia’s head coach but due to medical reasons, he will not travel to India for the ODIs.

Australian bowling coach David Saker could replace Darren Lehmann as Australia’s chief coach in the future(Getty Images)

David Saker is Australia’s bowling coach. He was hired by England from 2010 to 2015 and then landed in Victoria before replacing Craig McDermott in the Australian support staff in July last year.

Darren Lehmann (left) talks with captain Steve Smith during a practice session in Melbourne on December 25, 2016, ahead of their Boxing Day Test match against Pakistan. (AFP)

Darren Lehmann’s workload has been shared in recent times due to the former Australian batsman’s health issues with deep vein thrombosis, a problem that gets worse after long flights.

Saker will not be the first time when Lehmann has skipped a limited overs series. Former Test opener and Western Australia coach Justin Langer led Australia to last year’s ODI tri-series win over the West Indies and South Africa in the Caribbean.

Saker is seen as a candidate to replace Lehmann as head coach. Lehmann’s coaching contract has been extended till the 2019 World Cup in the UK and the Ashes series that immediately follows.

“It’s a huge honour to be even considered to be a coach of an Australian team, and to be given the opportunity is fantastic,” Saker said.

“I’m going to look forward to it a lot, and my ambition is to coach Australia. I know not playing cricket for Australia makes it a little bit harder.

“But I think I’ve been involved in Test cricket, one-day cricket and Twenty20 cricket a lot. I’ve seen a lot of cricket, so I think I could do the job without a doubt.”