IPL 2024: Sunrisers Hyderabad Announce James Franklin As Replacement For Fast Bowling Coach Dale Steyn

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Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday (March 4) announced former New Zealand all-rounder James Franklin as a replacement for fast bowling coach Dale Steyn ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Former South Africa pacer Steyn who was appointed by SRH in 2022 has pulled out of the upcoming season due to personal reasons. SRH, who named Pat Cummins as the skipper earlier on Monday (March 4), acted swiftly to rope in a replacement for the bowling coach.

Franklin has previously played in the IPL in 2011 and 2012 for the Mumbai Indians. His stint with SRH will mark the beginning of his first coaching spell in the IPL. But he has coaching experience from his time in the English County and the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

The former New Zealand left-arm pacer will link up with another Blackcaps icon Daniel Vettori, who replaced Brian Lara as the head coach of the Hyderabad-based franchise.

Franklin and Vettori have worked together in Middlesex (county cricket) as well as Birmingham Phoenix (the Hundred). Franklin was also the head coach of Durham and currently serves as the assistant coach of Islamabad United in the PSL.

Franklin would be looking to bring the best out of SRH's top-quality pace bowling line-up which consists of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cummins, Marco Jansen, Umran Malik, T Natarajan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Jaydev Unadkat and the uncapped Indian Akash Singh.

The two Kiwis will also be linking up with Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan, who is the spin bowling and strategic coach at the Hyderabad-based franchise. Here is a look at the Sunrisers coaching staff for IPL 2024:

SRH Coaching Staff for IPL 2024

• Head Coach: Daniel Vettori
• Assistant Coach: Simon Helmot
• Batting Coach: Hemang Badani
• Spin Bowling & Strategic Coach: Muttiah Muralitharan
• Fast Bowling Coach: James Franklin
• Fielding Coach: Ryan Cook

Sunrisers will begin their IPL 2024 campaign with a trip to Kolkata to face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their campaign opener on March 23 at the Eden Gardens. They will next host Mumbai Indians on March 27 before a trip to Ahmedabad on March 31 to face Gujarat Titans.

In their final match of the schedule revealed so far, the 2016 champions will host southern rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on April 5.