SA20 2025: Paarl Royals Appoint Former India Coach as Shane Bond's Replacement

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The Royals franchise continued their coaching staff rejig with the appointment of former India fielding coach Trevor Penney as the head coach, replacing New Zealander Shane Bond in the role ahead of the SA20 2025 season.

Penney, who worked under Duncan Fletcher for Team India, has immense coaching experience, having worked for several international sides and clubs across the world, including holding an assistant role at Rajasthan Royals.

He will now replace Bond, who will shift his attention to preparing for the IPL mega auction with the Rajasthan Royals. The strategic change will enable Bond to spend more time in India over the next few months as the team's Bowling Coach, working extensively with the recently appointed head coach Rahul Dravid.

Penney's appointment comes on the back of his success as Head Coach of the Barbados Royals' Men's team in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), where he has overseen a period of consistent high performance.

Under his guidance, the two-time CPL champions finished as runners-up in 2022, narrowly missed out on the playoffs in 2023, and progressed through to Qualifier 2 of the 2024 season, losing out on a place in this year's Final, a release said.

His leadership and coaching style have helped foster a strong team spirit and drive the Royals towards their best performances in recent years.

Sharing his excitement about the new role, Trevor Penney said: "I'm honoured to take on the Head Coach role at Paarl Royals. The SA20 has become a major tournament on the global cricket calendar, and I'm excited to work with such a talented squad.

"Being part of the Royals family with Rajasthan Royals and Barbados Royals has been a wonderful journey, and I'm looking forward to continuing that experience in Paarl. I'm confident we can build on the successes of the last two seasons and make a strong push for the title in 2025."

Kumar Sangakkara, Royals' Director of Cricket, remarked that they are delighted to have Trevor join as Head Coach of Paarl Royals.

"His track record with the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and with the Barbados Royals in the CPL, where he's helped in transforming the team into consistent contenders, shows the quality of coach he is. We believe his experience, combined with the leadership of David Miller and a talented squad, will help Paarl Royals continue their rise in SA20," Sangakkara was quoted as saying in the release.

The former Sri Lankan cricketer also revealed why Bond was relieved of the role and what the former New Zealand pacer's role will be in the future with the IPL 2025 Mega Auction fast-approaching.

"Shane Bond, who has been fantastic with us in both the IPL and the SA20, will focus extensively on his continued role with the Rajasthan Royals and spend more time in India, overseeing the scouting and trial processes along with Rahul (Dravid) and Vikram (Rathour)," Sangakkara added.