IPL 2024: SRH appoint James Franklin as pace-bowling coach after Dale Steyn pulls out due to personal reasons

New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have announced the appointment of former New Zealand all-rounder James Franklin as its pace-bowling coach for the upcoming 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.

Franklin, the former left-arm fast-bowler, replaces legendary South Africa pacer Dale Steyn, who was appointed in the role by the franchise in 2022. But the franchise said Steyn will not link up with the team for the upcoming season due to personal reasons.

“Dale Steyn will not be joining us this season due to personal reasons and James Franklin will be the Pace Bowling Coach for this season. Welcome on board, James!” wrote the franchise on its social media accounts on Monday.

Franklin has played 31 Tests, 110 ODIs and 38 T20Is for New Zealand between 2001 and 2013. As a player, Franklin has played for Mumbai Indians in the 2011 and 2012 IPL seasons, and he will now have his maiden coaching stint in the tournament through SRH.

He will reunite with his former New Zealand teammate Daniel Vettori, who was appointed as SRH head coach after IPL 2023, where the side finished at the bottom of the points table. Franklin and Vettori had worked together at Birmingham Phoenix franchise in The Hundred as assistant coach and head coach respectively, plus in the Middlesex county team.

Franklin has had coaching experiences with Durham in English county cricket as their head coach from 2019 to 2022 and is presently the bowling coach of Islamabad United in the ongoing season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Earlier on Monday, SRH announced Australia’s Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins as its skipper for IPL 2024 season. Cummins replaces Aiden Markram in the role, who led SRH in IPL 2023. It will be the first time Cummins will be captaining a side in the IPL and will be SRH’s third captain in the last three seasons of the tournament.

Cummins had a magnificent 2023, which boosted his leadership credentials – winning the World Test Championship (WTC), retaining the Ashes in England and claiming a record sixth Men’s ODI World Cup as captain of Australia. He also becomes the second Australian to be SRH’s captain after fellow country-mate David Warner, who led the franchise in 67 matches from 2015 to 2021.

Sunrisers Hyderabad, the IPL 2016 winners, will open its IPL 2024 campaign on March 23 against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, followed by playing its first home match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on March 27 against five-time champions Mumbai Indians.

–IANS