Former Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald has been appointed coach of Rajasthan Royals, replacing South African Paddy Upton, who was in charge of the team's disappointing campaign last year.
McDonald had played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier. He has also been the bowling coach of RCB.
The 38-year-old, who played in four Tests for Australia, has coached Victoria and Melbourne Renegades back home and Leicestershire in England, too. "I’m delighted to join the Royals family,” he said. “It's a great honour to take on this responsibility.”
He added it was a new, exciting challenge for him. “I can't wait to get started working with our world-class players and coaches in one of the biggest sporting leagues in the world,” he said.
The Royals' executive chairman Ranjith Barthakur said the franchise was happy to appoint McDonald as coach. “Andrew shares our belief of discovering potential and championing dreams and is aligned with our vision to continue to drive innovation in the IPL,” he said. “He will be preparing for the season by sharing experiences and best practices with exceptional coaches in other sports and will be visiting India in the near future to meet the Royals team, both on and off the field.”
The Royals had fared poorly last year, finishing seventh in the eight-team league, in spite of the presence of some big international stars like Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer of England and Steve Smith of Australia.
