Picture Credit: Twitter
Sunrisers Hyderabad have announced a major change in their coaching staff ahead of the next season. The team has parted ways with former West Indies legend Brian Lara and has roped in former New Zealand all-rounder Daniel Vettori as his replacement.
Vettori is not new to the IPL, as he previously served as the head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore from 2014 to 2018. Under him, RCB reached the playoffs twice while reaching the closest RCB has ever been to the trophy in 2016. However, the Sunrisers Hyderabad beat them in the final by just eight runs.
Vettori has been the head coach of the Australia men's national team since May 2022 and is currently the head coach of the Birmingham Phoenix men's team at the Hundred. In addition, he has coached for the Big Bash League's Brisbane Heat, CPL's Barbados Royals, and the Vitality Blast's Middlesex.
Vettori is widely regarded as one of the best left-arm spinners and lower-order batsmen in cricket history, having played 113 Tests, 295 ODIs, and 34 T20Is for New Zealand. Sunrisers Hyderabad welcomed Vettori to their team with a tweet that read: "Kiwi legend Daniel Vettori joins the #OrangeArmy as Head Coach. Welcome, coach!"
In another post, SRH wrote, “As our 2 year association with Brian Lara comes to an end, we bid adieu to him. Thank you for the contributions to the Sunrisers. We wish you all the best for your future endeavors.”
Lara had taken over from Tom Moody as the head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2023 after being with the team as an advisor for a year. Sunrisers finished eighth in IPL 2021 and 2022 and 10th in IPL 2023, with only four wins and ten losses.
The Hyderabad-based franchise will be hoping that Vettori can bring a fresh perspective and a winning mentality to the team, which boasts some talented players like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Aiden Markram, Abhishek Sharma, and Rahul Tripathi. The team has won the IPL title once, in 2016, under Warner's captaincy, while also reaching the playoffs four times, in 2013, 2017, 2019, and 2020.
